Back @ Blogging.
I think I'm really lazy to blog. By right till date, I shld have written many entries, coz several things happened, but then, i'm just too lazy. To the benefit of those who are "kaypoing" on my life, here a short recap on what my life over the week of so:
ISS: 4-5 August 2005
This 1.5 days event has finally ended!!!! That whole week before the event was slightly hellish, but luckily I had a supportive team (my manager, 2 POs and a couple of Temps), things worked out fine. Stayed in office till midnight 2 days straight. It was nuts, but the pressure and stress were good. Suddenly time was not enough, and the event was drawing closer and closer. This event, though technically my 2nd major event, was by fact my biggest event. I can still rem how my manager told me the scale of how this event would be. I liked the challenge, and I have really learnt alot through this whole ordeal. The idea of controlling temper, stay patient and positive, all these values were standing before me. My first taste of REAL PRESSURE. Loved it and missed it greatly!
The event was held at The Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, and about 440 students from all the Tertiary schools, a few JCs, some Polys, quite afew ITEs, and a good number of International students from a good mix of countries, turned up for the event. My initial thought would be, will these students engage in any discussions with the speakers, I for sure never did once tried to attend a conference or symposium. And if i had too, I would be falling asleep. I know, I'm not a very good student. That is why I was so amazed at these students, the kind of questions they asked and the amount of general knowledge they possess and most importantly, their desire to be heard. I salute each and everyone of them. It's amazing how attentive these students are. If only I was in the discussion rooms, I heard the exchanges were even better.
I hoped the symposium was a success, to me it was, boss didnt say a word of complain, sound system, visual and lightings were good and alright, food was good, speakers were on time, I guess... the event was definately a success. :) hope it will reflect well on my "report card" end of the year.
Issue with Leave @ work.
I took 1.5 days annual leave, Monday(PM) and Wednesday. I thought I should have the break, since it was a long weekend kinda holiday, with NDP on the tuesday. I was suppose to be on Full Day leave on Monday, since I had planned to take off-in-lieu in the morning for working on the Saturday before. But dear boss decided to change it to the 29th, coz we're shifting. To cut the story short on this, basically, we're moving to Bishan junction 8 between 29-31 Aug. Rather than declaring office closed on those 3 days and giving us 3 days off, management or rather my boss has strongly encouraged (could say it's complusary too) to use our leave or time offs instead. It's a bloody entitlement.. and now im forced to take leave on those days. Because I became a perm staff in June, I dont get the full 21 days leave. Pro-rated from June, I have technically 12 days leave, of which i used 1.5 days and now I have to use another 2.5 days, I'm really left with nothing much to use on. This is really F**Ked up, seriously, moving office was never my concern, it's management's idea of saving money, so why shld they take away our entitlement. At least I have some leave left, those who joined later, they have nothing more to use on, is that fair? Worst still, other depts seem to have a choice on whether they will agree to use leave, my dept... no way.. either u take leave or u come back to office and help move stuff. Wtf! Honestly, this is no welfare... human resource dept needs to retrain themselves... THIS IS NOT WELFARE! anyway, I really dont have much of a choice. oh well....
Dim Sum Dollies: 8th August 2005
I treated Kevin to Dim Sum Dollies, you can consider it as one of the bday pressie I bought for him. I was so glad I decided to purchase the tickets slightly earlier, coz the place was packed! We watched the very first Dim Sum Dollies, and we loved it, I know for sure Kevin loved a couple of the songs then. So I thought, since we missed out their 2nd performances at the Esplanade last yr, this yr we had to go. The show was not bad, a good 2 hrs of laughing. However, i dont think it's as good as the first one, heard some people say it's not as good as the 2nd one too. But still... they did put up a good performance.
Selena Tan
as usual, did spectacularly well in her Stand-up comedy segment. Her comment on elections, heh.. quite funny, since she turned legal to vote, she has never once had the chance to vote, and she's been desperately trying to vote, she is contemplating to move to an opposition party's elected district so that she can vote when there's a contest. Heh!
Pam Oei
she's solid as well, Loved her "love song". Lookin at her was enough to laugh at. And she's really good at accents. Her indian accent was..."superb' (action: shake head like Indian).
Emma Yong
not too bad, but honestly, I dont see her as a comedian, I mean she's good at what she does, but just not comedic enough.
Hossen Leong
he's the best. They made the right move to have him as part of the crew, he's roles added the additional laughs to the whole show. Love him when he plays women roles.... hehe!
What was really good was the 3 mini dim sum dollies. They are sooooo cute, especially the eurasian girl, she's utterly adorable. I am very sure in 10 years down the road, she's gng to be so damm gorgeous!
Overall, my verdict for the show, 3/5 ... worth watching... maybe just not worth paying that much to watch, especially now there's no more discounts.
NDP@ Marina South, 9th August
Singapore is 40 this yr and so celebrations in Singapore was MASSIVE. Actual parade is at the Padang, the place where Singapore was declared an Independant country, 3 other parages and celebrations at 3 different Heartlands, Jurong East, Yishun and Tampines, and a huge celebration at Marina South. Kev and I decided to head to Marina South for the celebration. Kevin wasn't that keen initially because it was far and transportation will be a hassle. But I dragged him there nevertheless. We walked ard the carnival area first, and of coz our first stop was the food area. Kevin wanted to head to the local brands area first coz he thought they might be givin out free samples. Well, there were no free samples, but ended up buying magazines, coz they were giving away goodie bags, which of coz attracted Kevin to buyin it. After we ate, we headed to the main concert area to watch the parade, we managed to find seats on the stands, so that wasn't all that bad. The air shows are always a highlight, the f16s, the pumas, anything up there were really good. The show was so so, the usual things la, but somehow it's only national day that you feel patriotic. Especially when the national day songs were sung, somehow Stand Up for Singapore become the no 1 hit or Count on Me Singapore was the favourite KTV song. I do feel proud to be part of Singapore. In 40 yrs, we really have acheived alot. Though the reason may be that we are a small country, hence easier to manage, but the leadership was correct in the first place. Our leaders had the vision and implementation of the vision was consistent throughout. For that, I really do salute the Singapore government. I do sometimes wonder would Singapore achieve so much and be a world class city if we had a change of government. If there was a change, what would Singapore be now? Honestly, I dare not even think of it, simply because we really have achieved alot.
The fireworks as usual was spectacular. This yr was better because it was longer and much nicer. Loads of money spent on this, but Im sure every Singaporean deserves this. It's our bday anyway! Best of all, Kevin said he was glad we went for the celebration. heh!
Alright, I shld stop my updates to here first, quite a long read I know. I will continue on later about the rest of last week... till then.... CIAO!
