Life
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
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 workplaceto 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.
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
==
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.
