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ppl kept encouraging me to update my blog. but it isnt I dont want to. actually maybe lah, sometimes I feel kinda lazy to put up a new post. but recently it is more like I couldnt access blogger when I most felt like blogging.

so now I will go on and gush about what happened the past week again just to make things look more alive. haha.

I have been going out a lot with melissa (the colleague, not classmate) and li hong lately. no one else seems interested wasting random time doing nothing much in particular so...

==

on the 14th march (that is two fridays ago!) I bought another notebook for poly use. this time round I decided to get something that is light, small and full of battery life.

Fujitsu S6510 is kinda the no-brainer choice for me lah. it has a 14.1" screen at a size of typical 13.3" screen laptops, it lasts over 4 hours on battery and is only about 1.85KG with DVD writer (1.7KG without). only bad thing is the integrated graphics but I dont game much anyway.

so I went there with (you guessed it) melissa, li hong and her friend called wei yuan. actually only supposed to go on 17th or 18th, but kiasu me saw free upgrade to 4GB RAM for first 1000 customers and decided to chiong down at 9am+, dragging them along.

those two are obviously not conditioned to wake up early one lah. so I ended up with a few sleepyheads. melissa was also complaining about being nauseous throughout the bus ride because she didnt have breakfast.

I know they do read my blog (haha) so I thought I should just say that I am really paiseh for making them wake up so early loh. haha. some more I am dragging them along like this. like quite heartless like that.

personally I thought taking 154 to NP from Boon Lay is really a long ride as well. maybe when school starts I would take 99 to Clementi for 184 or the free shuttle instead.

after that must go configure whatever course specific-software thing at blk 72 (woo my BA block). at first those electrical engineering ppl with so many stuff to install supposed to go only at 2pm and me do first. but somehow they managed to do at 11+ also.

mine was done very quickly since I have no software to install except that altiris agent. wasted nearly an hour plus plus more while they finish their Visio, AutoCAD and Scientific Notebook installation.

after that went IMM after much debate regarding where to have lunch (one person suggested SIM University). then after after that went to their house to help them set up their stuff and cos got nth to do.

but first they went sheng siong since their bro cant end his DotA game and I went as well. pretty boring la, since I am not really buying anything. come back liao finally got into serious business. password-protected router, encrypted wireless signals, updated configs for existing computers and configured notebooks for the network. other than the small hiccup with MAC filtering everything else went well.

think I left at 7+.

oh before I forget, those two got S6510 as well, then wei yuan got S7211. everyone seems to be having the same line of thought as me, since a lot of people got S6510 too. next time if ppl steal a S6510 the first response wont be of shock but of "whose got stolen ah?". zz.

==

the next day went IT Show with the same pair of sisters but with different friends (eh?). met melissa separately at boon lay, then went down to marina square starbucks to meet li hong and her (another) group of friends who are going as well.

since it is a saturday, anyone who have went these shows on weekends before will know that all hell will break loose. and indeed. just trying to cross the overhead bridge to suntec city was so difficult that some ppl resorted to jaywalking that four lane single way Raffles Boulevard. we tried to but gave up and joined the queue for the bridge.

entering the convention centre side of suntec city from galleria foyer is the next nightmare. I am damn sure I was stuck there trying to make my way through that darned doorway for 10 full minutes.

it was slightly better once we went over till we entered the exhibition halls on L4. I am not exactly sure what we did, but we visited booths like Dell, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Apple, Acer and HP. then we went to L6 to hunt down Besta. we walked nearly one full round before realising their booth is right at the entrance (=.="), which triggered one of li hong's friends to complain about the crowds and suffocation from those rounds.

we left after nearly an hour there I believe. met this irritating prick right at the entrance who tried to psycho us into listening to some talk about some savings plan. his level of persistence turned me off even further and we finally shook him off when he gave up after 10 minutes or so.

then on our way home on the train, there is this bunch of monkey boys that hails from the great boys brigade of the gan eng seng primary zoo.

they made so bloody much noise and ran and jumped around like the school had chartered the train for them. many ppl on the train gave them dirty stares but the teachers didnt get the message, smiling broadly as if they are so proud of their level of maturity. one even decided to take photos.

we cracked random monkey jokes and took photos of them, wanting to post them onto STOMP. somewhere near JE there are two little boys who acted cool with their caps, trying to impress the four jiejies sitting opposite them. (I am not lying abt this part. even the girls themselves saw it).

and that day ends with me going to grandma house as usual.

==

sunday must be uneventful.

==

monday on 17th I went to Ngee Ann (again), this time with wei lei and mx. wei lei is there for his course-specific software installation. mx is there for buying laptop. and you guessed it. its S6510.

I went mainly to correct my mistake on the Tuition Grant Declaration, where I declared that I have previously studied in a tertiary institution. stupid mistake. got it settled at admin office Block 1 Level 7 already anyway.

we also checked out the laptops for the second time since there is really nothing much better to do, having arrived at 2+ and the installation only at 4.

some PSPing and laptoping later, we went up to Block 72 Level 6 for the installation. there, my suspicion that everyone loves S6510 is reinforced.

mx and I explored the block as well since that is our future school after all. most corridoors are airconditioned and there is a windy open space cum carpark at L3 that directly faces the convention centre. how interesting.

==

the next day on the 18th, we (and I am sure you can assume the compnay) trudged back to NP to settle the freshmen orientation camp, foreign language programme and the whatever GIRO and whatever reimbursement forms that is left to handle.

the other two went for their colour vision test since unfortunate engineers need colour vision for reasons unknown to me.

I have somewhat forgotten what did we do next. if I ever remember I will tell you all next time.

==

19th was a slack day as well.

==

headed to plaza sing on the 20th to do gmask. no not me. I dont have free vouchers which a few people got without even throwing those irritating darts because of the gender difference between the promoter and them. sexist. zz.

went there and those two fickle-minders spent some time choosing and made a few changes of choices along the way before settling on whatever they want, only to be told there is no stock and must "wait two more days".

since everyone brought their laptop, we ended up surfing at KFC. surf till 4+ then go back. hmm.

==

...I will continue tomorrow. dead tired.

I pruned through my blog links today. and you can see how much lesser active blogs there are now despite me relaxing the criteria haha. guess everyone was busy enjoying a new chapter in life with their newfound JC friends or contributing feverently to singapore's GDP in 2008.

and I actually wrote quite a long post for updates to my life so far in the past month. but I fell asleep typing it halfway a few days ago and havent quite got back to finishing it. but I assure you it should come up by tomorrow. haha.

UPDATE: as promised, a super long and boring post below. I dont even want to read it after writing it. so make your own decision whether to proceed with that.

I know I didnt blog for a long time. working life cant be full of excitement one ma. so got nothing to write about life loh. then I also no time to find interesting websites so no inbox post loh. so end up no new post for one entire month loh (my last updated was 4th Feb, exactly one month ago. lol.)

but since my toodent and some loyal readers (people actually bother to read my blog? I am so touched! thanks!) who tagged said I should update, I thought I should reciprocate the favour. though I think it is going to be a boring read. hah.

==

so I quit my first job on the 28th of feb (actually its the 29th, but that happened to be my off day so...). didnt quit because I hate the job/place/people/whatever. nor did I quit because school is starting (in fact it is gonna be like 14th april). I quit because I am kinda embarrassed to ask the manager to extend it further after delaying my resignation from 6th to 14th then to 29th of feb. another reason was that it most of the temp staff are quitting by 29th too, so it is gonna be a bit lonely there if I stayed.

I wouldnt say I loved the job la. towards my final days there, I had to wrap the used food containers and drag them onto the lorry, clean the drain (with bare hands on some days) and sweep the floor. out of all those, I only found the cleaning the drain with bare hands rather intolerable. but I did it anyway.


also, being a stacker-who-sometimes-have-to-carafare-as-a-packer-as-my-branch-is-too-stingy-to-hire-a-packer, I am sure I mentioned before that why should I be subject to the stress of the people who are paid S$100 more than me? especially the pre-CNY period when queues really stretch? and in addition subjected to their verbal abuse?


not to forget voyeuristic managers who spies on his staff through the impressive network of CCTVs from the comfort of the office in total privacy. if they notice any problems, they will not approach you directly to talk about it but instead ask the people around you. kinda sneaky and pervertic methinks. such spying by the higher-ups kinda keeps you on your toes while you are working, aware that your every move is being monitored.

the hierachy there also have the tendency to piss you off. the regional managers drop by and kao peh the managers. the managers go and kao peh the supervisors/executives. the supervisors/executives go and kao peh the assistant supervisors. the assistant supervisors go and kao peh the stackers/packers (for fish, meat and veggie depts)/cashiers. the stackers/packers/cashiers then kao peh the temp staff. scoldings or instructions always go a level down or up, never skipping.

for example, if I didnt 起角 properly and a supervisor sees it, he will inform an asst supervisor who will then inform a stacker to inform me. and if I wanted to take leave (happened when I am redeeming my off days deducted from the CNY period), I had to first ask a supervisor before I can ask the manager. what you really get is plenty of inefficiency and repetitions due to the amount of red tape involved.

but then I am just whining above la. I dont really hate it as much as you might think reading what I said. it is quite a good way to keep healthy, as stupid as it may sound. the job may not feel difficult to perform, but the amount of things carried and pushed around kinda kept the arm muscles toned. not to forget that I sweat quite a lot, especially when the CNY goods market outside was in full swing.

also, other than a few people, most other staff (including the permanent ones) are really quite friendly and I actually knew some of them quite well. the temp staff too. think we had more than a few movie outings already. some sentosa trip is planned for this friday night to thon even. I am kind of glad I chose to work here, for the large workforce allowed me to meet much more people than if I chose, say, GV, Sakae or the like, not to forget the higher pay, even if conditions are more gruelling.

I have to say that it is really the people that made my short two months stint there so enjoyable. it is them who made the chores I have to perform daily worthwhile. it is them that I once again have something to look forward to everyday. in fact, it felt as if I had made friends that I got along as well with those close friends of mine from commonwealth. I sincerely appreciate the beautiful memories that all of you had left me. our acquaintance may have been short, but this few weeks are going to be etched in my heart for a very long time.


okay. better stop myself before I go overboard with the poetic shizz. I think it wont be the last time we see each other though. still must meet on the first day of school to go NP together. haha.

==

okay after I finally conclude my work, lets talk a bit about what I kept myself busy with starting the 29th. actually it is kind of easy to summarise. I spent my first three unemployed days of this year repairing my uncle's computers and setting up a network since his broadband service was just activated on 28th.

I arrived at 12 plus and connected the various equipment and got it hooked onto the net. relatively easy. had lunch and continued at 3 plus PM. the following was the hard part. I had to remove a virus from my uncle's com that had settled there since years ago. only that it remained dormant as my uncle seldom dialup to use net. with broadband, all hell broke loose.

that virus was so ludicrously hard to remove because it copies itself to any drive it can find on the computer, including your thumbdrive. so end up my own thumbdrive also kena virus. I did not know about this till I am into my second or third time of formatting the first computer and still wondering why isnt it gone yet. so I formatted and installed XP four times, then an additional two times just to get rid of the virus on my uncle's thumbdrive. this took 12 hours straight from 3pm to 3am with only meal breaks in between and shower at like 11 plus.

and I cant even clear the virus off my thumbdrive till I came home and wiped it out with the partition wizard that comes with Windows XP installation.

NOTE: anything beyond this was written on March 7.

after I finally formatted and installed XP as well as any other programs needed, it is like 11 plus AM the next day (after some sleep in between). then when updating the router firmware, disaster struck again and I had to tftp the firmware in. that wasted nearly two more hours. I am only totally done with the FIRST computer after 27 hours in the making.

I had to visit sim lim square on sunday to get a hard disk, a DVD writer and some thumbdrives among other things. quickly went to grandma house (again) to fix them all in and to complete the stuff for the second computer. and AGAIN something had to screw up. this time the wireless adaptor and I made a trip to IMM at 6 plus just to buy another one.

I am finally done with the two computers and the router by 9pm or so on sunday. I included plenty of details to illustrate how gruelling the process was. though I am sure I have overdid it somewhere. pai seh la. I am the long winded kind.

but still, three full days to get a network set up between two computers sure is a long time.

==

and on monday, I went to DBS Shenton Way branch to collect my IB Secure Device immediately. I had waited over two weeks for it to arrive and made two calls to their CSOs. turns out they got my address wrong. if I dont go down, I would be waiting three working days for them to change my address and four working days to send the device out again.

I arrived around lunctime (12.40pm?) and there is an exodus of office staff going for their lunch breaks. the guys are in cotton pants and shirts and the ladies are in office-wear type of dresses. I suddenly feel under-dressed in t-shirt and jeans.

anyway it took me quite a while to find the DBS Building since it is adjacent to the CPF Building and both buildings are long and tall (45 stories if I am not wrong). so I literally went one big round when I walked along the CPF building instead of the DBS one.

the CSOs at that branch are very polite and speak very proper english. guess that stems from the amount of foreign talents visiting. but they are still quite friendly lah, though I bet they are wondering what is a poly freshman doing at the CBD on a weekday.

after that went National Library to read something before going straight for my haircut at Jurong West without having to detour home.

==

on tuesday went to watch The Leap Years with my ex-colleagues. the movie is kinda slow but as with all romance kind of movies, it gives you that feel-good feeling. 3 and a half stars maybe for its poor pacing and average story maybe?

but junwei was at his usual outing-sleepy-self since he slept at 7 plus in the morning as usual after gaming. having a walking zombie near me during an outing kinda dampened my spirits lah.

after that watch them play some basketball thing at arcade. junwei shines as expected. lol. then visited my previous workplace to laugh at those poor saps still working ahahahaha to reminiscence the good old times and for xinhui to do some shopping. instant pancake for breakfast? right.

==

on wednesday it was laptop-window-shopping time. kah sing, dave and I headed down to sim lim, decided it was too messy, and changed target to funan. since dave and I are part of the working population (i.e. adult fare on public tpt), we walked.

from sim lim in a striaght line to suntec, a straight line from one end of suntec city to the other, across the overhead bridge, heading down to citylink, reaching city hall station, emerging onto level ground from exit B and finally arriving at destination Funan DigitaLife Mall.

the journey is pretty long, especially when one is walking. after some pointless browsing, we decided to head to National Library (!), which means backtracking the route we took, except that we turn earlier to Bugis Junction instead of going straight on.

dave borrowed some books while I watched kah sing eat at ajisen and his anectodes about the various food joints and about going to ajiteh together with ching kit and dave next time. talking to him is always a invigorating experience for my cerebrum. he knows a lot about fashion and food that I never knew.

then it is a trip back to boon lay to check if my salary was credited (not until the 6th actually), joining the throngs of people at the JP POSB ATM queues, a quick trip home to change before heading to the gym at Jurong West Stadium.

have to say it wasnt really productive. after about an hour there, we are laughing ourselves silly looking at each other's gek sai faces while trying to lift the weights. nevertheless it felt good to be conditioning my body a little after a long time.

and that is the end of wednesday.

==

on thursday, and that is yesterday, I went IT show with ming xuan and wei lei. a little problem cropped up when those colleagues of mine pushed forward the sentosa outing to thursday. that means I will have to choose either of them. ended up going to the IT show since I am pretty shagged from daily businesses since I quit my work and we did agree on going the IT show quite a while back.

if they didnt do that, I will be occupied today too. heard junwei fly kite and ying kang, being the only guy among the company of eight girls, played by himself at the beach. and I also heard that someone just cant get near water due to some reason-that-must-not-be-named and ended up taking photos for everyone. haha.

anyway before we headed for IT show, met zp at JJ's gate first since he had to meet up with ming xuan AT COMMONWEALTH (wtf) to borrow PSP for him to survive through today's four hour break. and it happened that zp met pam and pys as well. some random updates on JJ's situation, like ying sheng being in a class with 2 guys, himself being part of the "jie meis" already, pam in an all-girl's class and zp's class with 5 guys and other not-very-chio girls.

thats that, and its off to IT show. walked about a bit, busily collected brochures for close examination and dissection today, and mx's game freak in him decided to play one of those PS3s on demo. the game is heavenly sword I think. anyway, the main point was it delayed our meetup with jolynn and joanna for koizora (sky of love or 恋空). it felt kinda awkward for me due to untold reasons, mainly because I dont know the both of them as well as the other two guys. but got it over with anyway.

the movie was not bad, even if it was a typical romance drama. the leading female actress was damn pretty, as expected from Japan though. dont want to spoil it for anyone but I will say its 3 and a half stars maybe?

dinner was at mac at JEC at like 10.30pm because of the mad rush to The Cathay for the movie.
good thing my gastritis didnt act up.

==

and today was really a slack day. went to collect the brochures that I left in wei lei's bag which I forgot to take back at JP and checked the bikes at JE to see if they are any cheaper than those at JW.

probably gonna finish Coffee Prince and its special and find some other random things to watch.

==

this is like the most detailed Life entry I had ever made, and is really one of those entries that are posted for the sake of updating the blog. I guess after a long hiatus, I kinda lost the midas touch with blogging, if I even had it in the first place.

now that a long break looms ahead of me (provided I dont get another job), I should be able to find more things to write lah. I hope.

think my next entry will be to do up the O Levels epilogue, which is way, way overdue by now, though this will mean I can discuss both my expectations and the reality at the same time.