Dinner with Grand Panda & other uni friends

It was an enjoyable dinner at Pepper Luch at Ang Mo Kio Hub last night. Peiying, Kenneth, Desmond, Uncle Johnny and how we forget about Grand Panda, Chow Yee? ;) I was so happy to see Chow Yee last night!!! The last time I saw him was like 4 years ago when I graduate from NUS, of course, we had to minus away his wedding night... Haha, me, Ying and Kenneth stayed at his place the night before his wedding day and I spoilt his heater tap. The water flowed non-stop and I was panicking in the bathroom. Plus, it was really late and the plumber didn't work on Saturday. The guys had to switched off the main supply and we had to be on water rationing on his wedding day. When the guests and bride and parents came, it was so embarrassing to explain that the water tap was spoilt and there was no water to wash hands... Anyway..............

I love to go out to meet friends. Everytime I felt refreshed by their life experiences and it was good to see all of us still hanging out together even after we graduate.

Johnny shared his New Zealand photographs with us. He went with his friend in May, but only to North Island. Aiya, he should go to South Island! Cos, it is just too beautiful at South Island. But because his friend had been to South Island before, so he had to make do with North Island. But still... South Island is breathtaking!!!! Queenstown, Milford Sound, wooo....

Anyway, Chow Yee joined us really late at 9 plus when all of us had finished eating. Haha. Well, it seemed my persuasive power is still strong after 4 years.. hehe. But really, it had been a looooooong 4 years since I see my grand panda aka senior.

So, the topic of the night changed to my new job, which is starting on Monday. As usual, they were all sharing their experiences with me, of course, also self-entertaining themselves as they looked at my bewildered face for every do's and don'ts for the first few days of work. Chow Yee had not changed a single bit.. I am still the little girl aka junior in his eyes. Sigh, every move I made, he said 'You cannot do that on first day." or "You cannot talk like this." WAWAWAWA!! Apparently, all of them were enjoying themselves scaring me with all the gossips and politics...

OL (office lady), they said, are the most gossipy in the profession because they are too free so thus talk alot.
The DO NOTs on the first day of work
1) DO NOT bring my Gucci bag for work (then I buy that bag for what?? They said if I bring, all the new colleagues will nickname me Branded, Ms Gucci, blar blar blar.. Ok, point taken..)
2) DO NOT talk too much i.e. keep quiet and observe (Kenneth said there are 4 types of people in office. 1st - Quiet and has brains, 2nd - Quiet and has no brains, 3rd - Talkative and has no brains and 4th - Talkative and has brains. Die... they said the 3rd type is the bimbo and I seemed to fit in the best in that category =.=")
3) DO NOT keep on smsing in office or appear to be very free.. I have to pretend to be doing work, even if I am pretending to read the never-ending file
4) DO NOT wear too bright, too short, too little, or with side slits that are high
5) DO NOT be the first and the last to leave office, don't rush for staff transport

WA! I was really looking forward to my new job on Monday. I had planned to take it easy and well, I have no idea what I am going to do there so go with an open mind. But thanks to my good friends, now I feel like "What is this? I wasn't even this jumpy when I started teaching!"

Ying said, no matter how well I tried to avoid making mistakes on the first day of work, the new colleagues will sure commend about me, both good and bad. Cos she does that whenever a newbie comes to her company =.=" WA. If I have colleagues as experienced as Laolao Ying and Chow Yee, I will die there...

Ok la, I know they meant well although they were teasing me all the time. I will forever be the blur blur little girl in University who blew up power supply and op-amps. How I missed those carefree school days... With friends always there to laugh and work, when money and paying bills aren't really the big issues.... Life is so much more simpler back then.

Only Desmond was siding me all night. When all of them were having fun digging out the stories at their workplace and putting me in those scenerios, only Desmond believed that I won't be that unprofessional.

I love the quieter moments with Grand Panda, while we were walking to the bus stop and waiting for my bus. He really really had not changed a bit, probably because I am still too untrained in the working world. Talk about nagging, he is more powerful than me. If not for him, I would not have found the motivation to study in Microelectronics or get that close to Third Class Honours. Thanks for his concerns and caring words, I became stronger after Jason broke up with me (of course, have to thank Ying and Jasmin too)

Gee, I thank God or whoever the Saint up there for letting me meet wonderful people in my life thus far. I feel so loved by everyone... The feeling is good when you know that others found you wanting and pleasant to work with.

Thank you Grand Panda, Johnny, Desmond, Kenneth and Pei Ying. Ganbatte, I will and I will remember to bring a notebook and a pen on my first day, with just a normal working bag ;)

My Gucci bag

Went shopping yesterday with Mummy, my brother and his gf.

I have to finish the not-so-fulfilling shopping Hong Kong trip. Hehe... But Hong Kong was fun nevertheless, the sitting Buddha was breathtaking.

O well, we walked into the Gucci shop at Paragon. Cindy saw a Gucci wallet that cost $500+ and before we know it, she had bought the wallet!!! Wa... Don't understand.. The next unbelieveable thing I could not dream that I would do is that I actually bought a Gucci bag too.

See, that is my new bag. I paced up and down the shop, one side tells me to buy cos it is really nice and the other side says cannot buy cos it is too expensive (S$1010 leh!!!!!!!!!!!!). Then my brother kept on tempting me to buy.. my mother kept on telling me no need to buy such expensive bag.. But I think she can sense that she was fighting a losing battle, in the end, she gave up. My heart was really beating fast when I signed on the S$1010 bill. I was like, ARE YOU SURE OR NOT??? Then finally, I gave up struggling too and boldy signed on the bill. I even asked the salesgirl if there is any discount for any credit card. That must be a dumb question because she replied with a definite NO. She must be thinking, "What is this? Want to buy still want to ask for discount? You think this is pasam malam is it? This is the genuine Gucci leh!"

My brother told me the salesgirl will open the doors to let us out because that was what she did when his gf bought the Gucci bag some months back. But the moment I signed on the bill, and the salesgirl received the payment, she disappeared into a small cashier room. I walked one round in the shop, giving obvious hints to other salesperson in the shop that "Hey, I am leaving, you can open the doors for me now." BUT!!! They ignored me. Can anyone who knows their manager sack them or something?? Wa liew, in then end, it was my brother who opened the doors for me.

I did not dare to tell Bao Bei that I bought the Gucci bag. He will KILL me lor.. cos I just bought a Disneyland bag from Hong Kong when we were there. He won't understand why I want to buy the bag and he will be very angry that I spent 1k to buy that. I felt so guilty for hiding it from him. Seriously, I had no intentions to tell him, because probably he won't noticed it anyway.

Then at night, I had a nightmare. In the dream, I dreamt that Bao Bei don't want to talk to me no more. I was so scared that I woke up. Then the first thing I did, I called him. I told him about the dream then he said he still love me. Hehe. But I haven't tell him about the Gucci bag.

So, in the end, in the afternoon, I decided to tell him. Better to come clear with him because I don't like to hide things and lie. Sigh... he reacted within expectations, he said he was disappointed in me. Actually, I am also disappointed in myself too la, just a little bit. But, cannot refund the bag for money already mah... Luckily, after a while, he simmered down...

I spent the rest of the day sieving through my box of bags, washed the dirty ones and went for pedicure. I intend to put on mask later.

WOW! Life is good but too bad, I have no money no more. I must work hard now, to compensate for the indulgence yesterday. Need to look for tuition soon... I love holiday!!

Mixed feelings & so many events

Many things had happened while I was away. We had a BBQ with 4EA and 4EB on 14 June at ECP, I attended a friend's wedding on the 15 June (my official last day with MOE) and flew to Hong Kong to meet my bf on early 16 June morning for a 5 days holiday break. Came back home early in the wee morning of 21 June and spent the day sleeping and wrapping presents for 4EB. Then 22 June, went back to school for Red Cross Farewell party followed by a pre-employment medical checkup requested by the new job (I discovered that I had grew taller by 2 cm but heavier by 1.5kg now =.=") Saturday 23 June, I went to Ubi Drving Centre for my Advance Theory Test and failed! Damn, they didn't even tell me where I went wrong, basket. No score even, just a big fat FAILED on the computer screen after the test. Then went out with bf to watch Fantastic 4 and came home to play neopets and watched TV.

So Desmond asked, "How is your break so far?" I replied, "Cool!"

Really, I had been thinking of this since the day I finished packing my working table in school. School is starting in one day and for the first time in three years, I feel relaxed and cool about this. In the last 3 years, this is the day that I dread the most, the day just before school term starts. Because I would be panicking over a million things: haven't set exam paper, haven't print worksheets, haven't finish preparing the powerpoint slides, what am I going to do for first day of school, what time am I going to reach home so that I can nap, when is the next holiday and of course the BIGGEST and STUPIDEST question, why does the holiday has to end so fast????

So today, I napped in the afternoon with no guilt and no nothing and went out to watch movie. Totally relaxed. It feels good to be having a break. The dumbest thing is, I thought the whole world is having holiday like me, until it suddenly dawned on me that it wasn't when I saw workers rushing down their company-arranged buses and running to the MRT station, hoping to get home in the fastest time after work on Friday.

So a part of me feels happy that I do not have to go back to school on Monday. But, frankly the other part of me feels pretty empty and lonely. Especially so after the farewell party on Friday. Lindy was so quiet that day. That small little girl, my heart squeezed each time I looked at her eyes. Everyone else were enjoying the pizzas and cakes. So I went up to her and asked her what happened. She looked at me with those teary eyes and tears just flowed down. My goodness! She said no words at all but her eyes asked me a thousand things: Miss Tan, why are you leaving? Can you don't leave? For the first time in my career, I felt like I am a mother, not a sister. I hugged her and she cried. The others looked on and wondered why she was behaving so emotional and dramatic but I can understand why she is crying.

Someone wrote me a thank you letter, thou shall not disclose the name lest you tease this person. In the letter, it wrote: There are many occasions where I thought to myself "How I wish Miss Tan weren't my teacher but perhaps a relative, a cousin or family friend."

Do you know this is exactly why I want to join teaching 4 years back? I want to touch lives, I want to help to change people's lives, I want to leave memorable footprints in other's lives so that if I were to die one day, I know I had done something that I can be proud of. I know my decision to leave is a big loss to you and me, I am fully aware that I am going to miss out a million opportunities to see you grow to be better people. I wished that I could walk alongside you and especially to my form class and other graduating classes, to finish the last lap to the O levels with you. I had took for granted the calling of "Miss Tan" for the last 3 years, and I am really starting to miss you people calling me that. This endearment it seems - is such an honour to hear you call me that because deep down I know, you treat me both like a teacher and a friend. It hurts whenever I see anyone of you cry because I worry that my absence will affect you emotionally too great.

Of course, I know things will always work out fine in the end, whether we worry or do not worry about it. All of us will reach a point whereby we accept the fact that life has to move on and nobody stays with anyone forever.

Just remember that my phone lines are always open for you, if you want to cry, complain or ask for advice. Just a note: currently, my line has NO free incoming calls..

Till we meet again, take care of yourselves and I will take care of myself too!

Wan Lee...

Wan Lee: If love is a book, what kind of book will yours be?

Me: A book that never finishes...

Wan Lee: If my love is a book, it will be a passport; a book which I need to carry wherever I go and without it, I can't go anywhere...

Who is Wan Lee?

Wan Lee is a average built lady, wearing a size L and a cup size that I envy. She is short-sighted and switches between spectacles and contact lenses, depending on her mood. She keeps her hair short now and she is in love too. In love with a man called Teck Teck, haha, a nickname which another friend gave.

Who is Wan Lee then? She is none other than my pal of 1993 till now, a freeking 14 years old friend from TKGS.

She is a romantic person. I mean, who will describe love like a book? Probably only Qiong Yao (a famous Chinese novel writer, the one who wrote 环珠格格) is that dramatically romantic.

We are the best of friends and we have many things in common. Both of us have a brother of 23 years old. We are both Scorpios and she is just 5 days older than me! We were both from Red Cross and we were from the same class back in TKGS, from Sec 1 to 4. We were in the same study group and wherever we went, we were always together. In fact, we only got separated after O levels, when we went to different JC.

We started out the most stupid way. First few days of orientation, we actually asked each other this question: You wanna go for recess together? -.-" And then on, we went for every recess together.. We were both in love with Aaron Kwok back then and I actually brought a newspaper article of his juicy gossip to school and shared with her. Since then, we became more inseparable. We went to Red Cross together and did everything together, of course we don't share the same toilet. We talked to each other on the phone everyday and discussed homework daily. We were so close that my mummy was so scared that I would turn into a lesbian and fall in love with her. HAHAHA!

Both of us are scared of snakes. Scared is an understatement. We were petrified of that species. We hugged each other and cried at the roadside of Wu Yi Shan (a famous mountainous region in China famous of snakes) while other schoolmates stood at the stall looking with huge eyes how the hawker skinned the snake alive.

Then came O levels, I did better than her and we got separated. I was delighted because I was going to my dream school but I knew she was scared. She is a very capable young lady who always lack self confidence. When she went to Yishun JC during the first 3 transitional months, she told me she was the only green person there. She had no friends and I wished she could join me in TJC but she couldn't. We were both praying hard that her O levels results would be good and we could be in the same school again. Alas, our prayers were not answered and she got herself transferred to Catholic JC taking up Physics, Computer Science and Maths C.

When everyone thought that our friendship will wilter because we were separated, we got closer. We updated each other every Saturday of our crash in school. I talked about Jason and she talked about Salimun. I admitted that I spent less time with her because Jason and I ended up dating. I wanted to see how Salimun looked like and both of us planned to meet up at Northpoint on one Saturday. Keke, Jason and I 'accidentally' bumped into she and Salimun that day and she was blushing all the while because we all knew it was all pre-planned. In the end, Jason and I ended up watching Batman in the first row at Northpoint..

Well, we did not end up in the same university after A levels. Her results weren't good and both NUS and NTU did not accept her. I think that was probably the bleakest period of her life then far because she had always been an ambitious and high achiever. She used to be the top student in her primary school. It was a huge blow for her when she could not go to local university. I couldn't remember what I had done for her to help her. Gee, I seemed to be quite useless friend. But she went to study Mass Communications at MDIS and happily graduated with a degree.

Then Jason and I broke up. I was totally shattered and she wasn't in Singapore when the break up happened. It was terrible! My bleakest period of my life thus far.. She was doing her attachment study at Okoholma in USA and I seriously felt my whole world collasping around me. I was helpless and how I wished she was there to console me but she was so far away. I knew she must be feeling worried for me too because we are closer than blood sisters.

I got myself out of that pit with the support of Daddy and Mummy plus other university pals.

When I joined teaching, and I got sad and helpless, I knew I can count on her to console me. My bf sometimes won't understand the plight I was going through. He thought I was just being immature and oversensitive. But she understood me and stood by me. This sms I still keep in my hp: In Him and through faith in Him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. No, both of us are not Christians but we are God lovers who chooses our own ways to get near to Him. No need to try to preach us to go into Christianity too, because I think both of us prefer it this way.

The funny thing about us: we seldom meet up nor do we call each other; we don't sms each other too. We can like MIA from each other's life for one to two months but still stay strong and truthful to each other. Don't ask us how we did it, we just did it with no special efforts. I guess we are just fated to be with each other? If my bf is my Bao Bei No. 1, she will be Bao Bei No. 2. I don't think I can ever live without her. She is even silly enough to tell me that if she were to die before me, she had already instructed her mother to leave Piao Hong (a teddy bear I bought for her to accompany her when she was in USA) for me. Gee, don't make me cry. There are just too many things we have in common. We know each other so well that I don't think any men could match up, haha! If I were a man, I promise to love her my whole life. But luckily(phew), both of us are straight. We don't even hold hands or hook arms like other good female friends do. So, mummy you can rest your mind at ease - your daughter loves man!

Recently, she just changed to a new job. A really busy and vibrant job. Sometimes I wondered how she could change job so easily and she is one of the people who gave me the courage to move on from teaching. She had been feeling quite blue too because she felt she couldn't keep pace with her colleagues at all. But she loves the job! Silly girl, she told me she felt like quitting from the job when she barely started a month ago??! BISH! BISH! Must knock some sense into her.

Dear Pal,

You have always been my idol and my pillar. You must persevere this time and push yourself through. You are a very capable person so stop doubting your abilities. I believe you can achieve and go far in this line because you possesses that positive attitude. Stamina and energy can be slowly built up. But you can't give up on yourself so easily. Don't set a bad example for me to follow yeah? Don't forget you always have me to support you, if Teck Teck does a lousy job cheering you on.
Ganbatte!!!

Yours truly,
Pal

Another long entry? Long-winded? Nobody asked you to read this anyway. My blog means I can write whatever I like except for those things that hurt other people isn't it? You have the freedom to skip to the next blog so stop complaining that I am long-winded!!

This is specially dedicated to my pal, Wan Lee not you!

Count yourself lucky that I am letting you a peek at the World's First and Second Most Sought After Girls - Myself and Wan Lee. Hahahahhahaahaha!!!