Anger Management

I am totally irked, irritated, pissed off, frustrated, angry as well as infuriated with what happened over the past few days. It was not just a classic case of asymmetric information at work; it was also a classic case of court (or in this case office) politics at work. Hmm, I bet none of you will be able to totally comprehend what happened (except for my platoon mates), but I think that it is an ever-occurring phenomenon, regardless of where your work place is.

Let me recap of what exactly happened. Saturday I went out with Edwin, so it was a good day. However, at around noon, my PC called saying that all of our Monday block off (CO wanted it) has been cancelled, and that as usual, the SPH team needs to go back to help Shane dig up more photos because apparently, commander does not want video clips for the final act of this year’s NDP, and instead he wants to make a slide show. The others (or whatever that is remaining of the others) have to go back to do some command post set up, as a foreign dignitary happens to be visiting this week. Now, at that time the full impact of all complications never set in, but later that night, after chatting with a few others, I realized how over-stretched my platoon was.

You see, a quarter of my platoon happens to be attached out to another unit, helping that unit do their exercise (I shall not name which unit), since their commander had requested my unit to help out. Ok, fine, that was already pre-arranged, so it’s fine. But, since another quarter of us need to be at SPH, that leaves like barely half of my platoon back in camp. Take away 1 who is clearing, and another 2 who are leaving on Tuesday, that leaves like 1 quarter of my platoon in camp. Minus away the store personnel as well as the clerks, that leave only 2 working personnel in camp. So what? Yes, it means that there are only 4 people on the first 2 days to set up the command post, while for the rest of the week there are only 2 to do it. That is madness!

Ok, then on Sunday morning (oh yea, the Padang people worked till 2330 hours, before rushing home on the last train), after talking to the others, apparently a particular person wants dave and wj back in camp on Wednesday to go down Padang and maintain the equipment there. Ok, so I was thinking, could it be because Shane never requested for all of us to be at SPH to do the work there?

From now on, the case of asymmetric information happens. What happened was that Sunday night, we went out for a late supper (me, elvin, dave, jh) and so we started talking about our predicament (as well as our platoon’s). So yea, elvin confessed that he told Mr. PC (PC for short), that we only Monday and Tuesday that we are actually working, well the other days are on stand by, so PC wanted to recall the other 2 back. Then, he told me that PC had the cheek to say that our platoon is more free than the other platoons, so it is logical that we help do 26 guard duties (mind you, there’s only like 11 of us) for next month. Furthermore, he claims that since we seldom do duties, it is only understandable. That is so rubbish. After all, we had been working like mad over NDP ever since the last quarter of last year, and we have also been involved in a lot of other stuff too. I don’t exactly see people having headaches over things which are not what the SAF prepares them for, unless your telling me that the SAF prepares you to do the unexpected.

Anyway, after talking to Shane on Tuesday, we started to realize how badly our previous PC, Mr. Mop, cheated us. Firstly, apparently OC told people that if they can find 5 errors in the CD, he would reward them with half a day of off. NOW, do you know how badly deprived we are of offs? We have found over 1000 photos from SPH, over 50 new events and articles from there too, as well as helped him check through the CD multiple times for errors and yet he has never reward us with any off. He will always use the argument “stay out is equivalent to off” to justify his actions, which is rubbish. I mean he assumes that we do not sleep at all in a day, and that working from 9-5 is like just half a day work. Cock man. Anyway, Shane frankly told us that he gave his platoon people like 6-10 days of off even though they spent only a few days at SPH, while we spent months! Amazing right! And best part is, he at most gave us 1 day off. Along the way, he ate like 6 days of our lunch allowance too. He is just a total idiot who definitely ate us over 15 days of off per person.

There is still another piece of shocking news. Apparently PC wanted 4 people to be back on Wednesday, so ya, we suck thumb must listen to him (Shane wanted us to rest for the rest of the week, cause he knows how tiring it was since he himself worked OT for at least the past week). Well, apparently they had some problem with the CP set up, but then, when my PS called, even if they go back on Wednesday, they could not do much since the CP must be ready by Tuesday night. So whatever, Shane managed to drag us back on Wednesday, since there was quite a bit of stuff he needs to do. Ok, but then, we heard that they need to set up CCG 1 on Thursday, when that time when we asked, they say that there was no need to do so… Oh well, like I say, some people are either just capricious, or they are just too easy-going that they always agree with what others say.

Now here comes the biggest bombshell. Duck called me to say that I got guard duty on this Saturday! And after I hear from him, apparently all of us got like at least one weekend burnt. Screwed man. So, let me tell you about my next few Saturdays schedule. Guard duty this Saturday, NDP rehearsals the next 2 Saturdays, finally a free Saturday, followed with another Saturday burnt thanks to NDP. Frustrating right!

Ya, all this is thanks to somebody who thinks that we are freer than other people. In the first place, other platoons get stay out privileges, while we still need to be in camp, and still need to go down on weekdays to Padang too. On top of that, our weekends are burnt too. Throw in our core jobs as well as other multimedia stuff (yea, now we have become Shane’s workers as well), and guard duty, oh man, it is just extremely taxing on all our bodies. So yes, we can see an obvious case of either miscommunication or asymmetric information, as well as a typical case of how somebody easily use others as stepping stones so that they can climb up further, as well as a case of not caring for those beneath you, and just making others work hard while you ignore their concerns!

Sigh! And CO is changing in September, plus exercises, how can I expect to clear in peace when my time comes? Hmm, I have no idea how we are supposed to keep to our supposedly 10 days of off, since there is absolutely no opportunity for us to take off nowadays. Screw them. And they better don’t do anything funny with my offs, or else I will be more than just pissed off.

Yea, after typing all this out, I do feel much better. I’m sorry to those who got in my line of fire earlier in the day. I was just too vexed out and I needed an outlet to vent it all out, so it was quite unfortunate that you got shot. Really sorry, and please don’t be angry with me. =)

The Existence of Badly Run Firms...

I saw this article on management in the Economist, and I was fascinated by it. Yes, management has always been a key topic among economists, and it is not surprising that much work has been done on management-related subjects. Well, the article was talking about the survival of badly run companies, and I was intrigued by it cause it was the first time that I start to think about the relationship between behavior of firms and market structures.

As we all know, a free market economy by encouraging competition among firms will hence result in firms becoming more and more efficient. On paper, that makes a lot of sense, since the emergence of competitors will encourage firms to use more efficient methods of production, as well as eliminate all those firms that are inefficient as well as unproductive. Now, the way a firm is managed is crucial in determining its performance and efficiency. However, management has always been tough to measure so it was always difficult to compare how empirical data compares with theory.

Now, according to the studies of 2 economists based in LSE, they attempted to measure the performance of management in companies through interviews as well as an arbitrary ranking system which they derived based on the managers’ responses. According to their research, the American companies were the best managed, followed by the Germans, the French and the British. However, in all the countries there was a wide range of scores. Apparently, their work shows that the better-managed the company, the better the company’s performance hence proving the fact that management is indeed a key factor of a company’s performance.

However, badly run firms still survived. According to the authors, competition tends to weed out young, badly managed firms, and management practices also tend to be better in those industries in which profit margins are and there are many rivals. Also, government regulation also affects the managerial performance of firms.

Now, this disparity between real life data and paper work suggests that there are still plenty of holes in economic theory. I mean, in the first place, could the difference be due to the fact of how incentives work? I mean we always assumed that all firms are profit maximizing, but am the CEOs and mangers profit oriented? Maybe more work needs to be done on the role of managers in firms. I mean, how do they actually affect a firm’s performance?

Hmm, those are some ideas for pondering. But it does seems that the free market economy is still not at a full stop yet, and that there are still much room for improvement.

Good 2 Days

Oooh, these 2 days has been real fun! Last night Elvin happened to be driving, so I got on his van and off we went on a tour of Singapore. Well, it was not really a tour of Singapore, more of like a tour of the Western part of Singapore. Anyway, we took PIE, went back to Jurong camp that area, then changed to AYE to go SIM. After that, we picked up WJ, then went AMK to pick K, then we went over to Punggol Park there to try out this chill out place called Bliss. Hmm, well the place was lousy if you were to compare it with Breko. The only good part about it is that the atmosphere there is good for couples, caused its dark and romantic. But Breko is better for a group of people to gather and chill out, so I will prefer to go Breko, unless I get a girlfriend. .

Anyway, today I went to meet Shi, and we sang KTV together. Ha, it has been a real long time since we sang KTV, so I had a good time today. After which, we watched initial D. The movie is fantastic, and I think Life! Totally under-rated the show to some extent. Although they claimed that Jay was a bit too emotionless at times, but I thought he did a good job. After all, Takumi is indeed very cool, and it will be weird if Takumi were to become over emotional. Anyway, the show is great, and I’m tempted to try drifting in future! But I doubt so cause there is absolutely no place in Singapore where you can actually practice drifting…

Tomorrow I’m going out with Edwin to shop down Orchard Road. It is like the last week of the Great Singapore Sale, so I’m hoping I can get some good bargains!

Work Work

Ooh, 1 week flew past again. Ok, it was a pretty hectic day on Monday. Me, Dave, Doug and JH went back to City Hall to do some maintenance work, and boy, we did a lot of work. Not only did we shift some of the furniture, we also have to re-lay all the cables. Yes, it was a pretty massive task, and we were totally shagged out by the end of it. But ok la, the whole place looks so much neat and orderly after we changed the cables. The only problem is that the node people did not really do a good job of tidying up their equipment, so it still looks a bit messy…

Well, Tuesday was relatively more peaceful. Wednesday was as well, except for the CO talk. Hmm, although he made a lot of visionary statements, as well as gave out some awards (the funniest part was that the OFE people got the same certificate again, I mean what’s the point right?), he did his duty well by rewarding us with a cool 5 days of off for the Best Signal Unit award and for our LRI results. Cool right? Now my off record is starting to look real decent…

Anyway, got headshot by SMO to read through all the previous prime ministers (and the current one as well) speeches to lift out positive, morale-boosting statements which they made on Singaporeans and Singapore on the whole. Well, it was an interesting exercise caused I realized that MM Lee talked like 41 pages worth of contents in 1 interview. That really shows that he is indeed a good speaker! Well, good thing Thursday all the commanders had to go off for training, so it was like a No Government Day for us to some extent. Ha. And my workweek ended early too caused I booked out at noon because I took half day off and a day off on Friday.

Come to think of it, ever since returning to camp from SPH, we have never really been to a first parade. Hmm, looks like the ORD mood is influencing my platoon super strongly. But I think by the time the new birds come in (after NDP I guess), things will be back to the past. Oh ya, I’m having the 9th and the 16th burnt due to NDP commitments. Well, I’m just praying that I don’t have to take the helicopter, even though I admit it is an interesting experience which I don’t mind having. Haha.

Screwed week and weekend

A super long and lousy week just went past. It is a long workweek caused I worked from Monday to Saturday, that is, 6 full days of work. Not just that, I got home really late and I lack sleep too.

Monday paid my first visit to the padang area. Ok, I helped to lay the last few lines from City Hall down. It is definitely much easier than laying the lines down the tunnels, across the field, but the job was equally troublesome especially since we faced the prospect of almost relaying the whole cable again. Thankfully, Dex bochup (I personally think he is getting better to some extent), and we thought of a better alternative, which sadly, got ruined by K.

Tuesday was possibly the best day of the whole week. After the usual run, we rested until break time, and then went to work a bit, then rest again. Not bad right? Oh well, we went nights off too in order to get the food supplies that we need to survive our remaining week in camp.

Wednesday zoom by, with the exception of all those problems at Padang. There were quite a bit of problems from what I hear. Well, so Thursday we tried to solve them. OK, I took half day off on Thursday so I didn’t exactly know what happened, but apparently some people took matters into their own hands and caused a lot of unhappiness for majority of us. I shall not elaborate since I did not really experience the whole thing first hand. Well, I met Shin Eik at JP for dinner. Hmm, Stanford sounds real fun, looks like it is a good place to go too. He seems to me to be enjoying much of his life too!

Friday went down to Padang again to set up the systems. Those engineers are real fickle-minded – they keep wanting to change this and that. Oh well, whatever. Anyway, after we set up the equipment, made all the necessary changes and ensured that everything was up, it was already 8.30. By the time we reached back camp, it was close to 9. SO had to rush to go Jurong Point for dinner, and by the time I reached back home it was 11 p.m. That just sucks.

Saturday I woke up at 730, went ICA building before going to Padang for work again. Well, it was supposed to end at 10, but in the end, after much dragging and talking, we finished at 1120 like that. And for some interesting reason, it is impossible to get a cab outside City hall, so we walked to MICA to get one and I just got back home at 12. It is totally horrible. The rewards better be good or I shall complain.

Tomorrow booking in again, which totally sucks! I mean my weekend just flew by like that. Luckily I’m going town to shop tomorrow (although I have no idea where the energy is going to come from). Thankfully, I got half day off next Thursday and on Friday too. So, it won’t be that long a week for me…

Hmm, guess my future Saturdays are gonna be burnt by NDP. Hopefully the damage is minimized…

Work VS. People

There are times I wonder whether I am a task-oriented person or whether I am a people-oriented one. Seriously speaking, I don’t know since all this depends on how others view me and not how I myself personally think.

Ok, so what am I? According to several personality tests that I have taken, I’m supposedly people-oriented. Yes, feelings rule for me instead of logic. In order to balance this up, I know that I am trying very hard to think thoroughly as well as to consider the practical issues first before making any decisions.

Looking back, actually I admit I am a pretty task-oriented person. Ok, I think a lot of you do not know but I am a firm believer of 今日事， 今日毕。 Ha, you guys must be wondering what I’m talking about. Well, I think my secondary school classmates should know. Ok, I like to finish whatever homework I get within the day that I received it (if it is possible). I hate to drag things over a period of time, cause that means that either a) things will escalate into a mountain or b) I will always have things to worry about at the back of my mind. So what’s the point of torturing myself right?

Ok, I think some of you might think that I lead a super sad school life because of my philosophy. I’m afraid that’s wrong. Haha, apparently I only spend an average of an hour on school work at home at the most. Yea, the rest of my time is spent on using the computer, playing games, going out, talk cock with my pals, etc. Tough to believe right? Well, I still remember that the last half of sec 3 and the first part of sec 4, I went out every day after school. In fact, I got home at close to 6 almost every day and the moment when I am home, I will usually be using the net and chatting on ICQ or IRC. Right people?

Yes, so that philosophy of life has indeed been brought about with me wherever I go in life. YES, I absolutely detest people who love to throw in last minute work for me to do. That is the worst thing that can ever happen as that totally destroys my timetable for the day (yes, I like to make plans of what I’m doing or what activities I’m having, so you can say that I am a very organized person in that sense even though my room is messy like mad). And yes, I hate to drag things. If things can be done fast and good, then so be it. Don’t waste people time by purposely making things difficult for people.

Ok, guess that is the other characteristic, which I have. I hate things that are sloppily done. I mean if there is a job for you to do, then do it once and for all and make sure its good. I mean, redoing something is both stupid and time wasting especially if you could have completed it initially. I hate to redo things! So yes, I truly appreciate it if people adopt this attitude too, since if you want me to redo anything and waste my time, that will really make me super pissed off.

Ya, this applies for all those projects in which if you already have something in find, then please tell me and don’t waste my time and at the end of the day you come and tell me you want “this this this, and not that that that”. That is extremely irritating.

Oh yes, I admit it is extremely difficult to find people who actually are on the same brainwaves as me. The ideas that I have can be pretty interesting and far-fetched at times, but I appreciate all forms of suggestions. I mean, I am not perfect, and some of my ideas are either too wild, or plainly idiotic. So please, if you are against some of my ideas, do suggest. I am one who is extremely receptive to ideas and suggestions.

Ha, the above does make me sound super work oriented right? Well, actually, I like to enjoy my own free time doing things, which I like, thus I hate to spend too much time on work. And since those things need to be completed sooner or later, it is always better to complete them first so that at least I will have the time to adapt to any sudden changes and not just let the work pile up. On top of that, if you end fast, that means you get more time to play too!

But why do I say that I am a people-oriented person? The truth is I make a lot of irrational decisions. I mean, I tend to side with my best buddies even though I should not, or it is illogical for me to do so. There are many occasions on which I had actually chosen to forego what others would not have (such as time and money), in exchange for the benefits of my pals. Yes, I think I have actually pissed a lot of other people off just because I’m siding with my friends.

Yes, I am indeed very people-oriented in the sense that friendship usually affects over 50% of my judgment. I think that is something, which I think all of you out there who know me personally should know. I guess all this boils down to the simple fact that I treasure friendship so much more than a lot of other things. To find a true friend is indeed not easy, and it needs plenty of luck and fate to accomplish. I guess indeed I have been very fortunate to meet so many wonderful pals in my life so far. Truly speaking, I need to thank heaven for all the kind favors they have given me thus far.

Looking back at what I’ve been through, there are times in which I feel really dumb. I mean, I have given so much for most of my close pals but what have they shown back to me? It can be real especially when you had so much for them, and yet at the end of the day, they just murmur a simple thank you. Worse, they turn around and bite you. That is extremely frustrating, especially when your intentions are misunderstood. There are moments which I really think that I am stupid, that there is no point in me continuing to show them my care and concern, but somehow or another, something within me always tells me to just give in to them just 1 more time. Perhaps that is one of the greatest weakness, which I have – I am actually a very softhearted person who gives in too easily to people’s demands (as long as I think its reasonable). And of course, that usually means that I always bear the brunt of the chores too.

Argh, oh well, what to do. I guess I’m just too nice. I’m like a punching bag for people when they are irritated, and likewise I’m also like a trashcan for people to dump their rubbish in. Seriously speaking, how many of you have ever been my punching bag? How many of you have actually helped split my burden? How many of you have ever heard me sounding vexed? I guess I am still looking for someone who knows me that well, for someone who really can be the cushion for me in life. Hopefully I do not need a long time to find the right one that I’m searching for…

It is so frustrating when I am an outlet for others, yet there is no outlet for me. It is just too much when people just take me for granted. Fine. You can always take me for granted because at the end of the day, I am not the one who is at the losing end. After all, it is only when you have lost some stuff, then you will realize how precious the thing is to you after all. I mean to me, I believe in maintaining my relationships with all, cause I know how valuable you are to me. But of course, if you yourself don’t treasure the bond I have with you, it is indeed fine with me. I rather have a mutual relationship then a single-sided one, since a one-sided affair is just nothing more than pure torture for me since we just cannot click together. Oh yes, that helps to eliminate all the “iron nails” which I have been hitting upon.

Ha, ok, please pardon me for my huge, long rambling about my personality. It seems to me that I have digressed a bit towards the end. And definitely, I’m not trying to pinpoint anyone here, but I’m just trying to get some thoughts out of my head (and heart too). I love most of ya (especially those regular blog readers which I have), and yes, you can still continue to shoot things at me. I guess most of you should know by now that I do not take things to heart most of the time. Ok, I hope that you guys have just got a better understanding of me!

Bad 2 days

A pretty bad week at work I guess? Ok, maybe the first 3 days at SPH was rather ok, cause most of the work was done already, so we ended up stoning in Toa Payoh most of the time. Well, we either go up to the café and chitchat, or we will search their system to find our own entertainment materials. So I guess that is a good NSF life.

Ok, so we booked in on Wednesday night, and yes, out of all of us WJ was the saddest since he couldn’t go MAMBO while the rest of the world were actually asking him to go. Well, it is really quite sad since that night a lot of pretty ladies (such as Felicia Chin) went to MAMBO. Real sad for him, I must say. But don’t worry, in just a few more months’ time you can go literally for every MAMBO of the week. Hmm, so please don’t be so sad.

Oh yea, apparently Shane and Mok happened to have a miscommunication and according to Douglas, we almost AWOL cause Shane wanted us to stay at SPH even though Mok has already arranged for us to be back. Hmm, I have no idea what is the problem between the 2 of them, but they are literally like playing with us. Anyway, Shane claims that there are a lot of write-ups errors. I wonder what they are because I have faith in our data entry ability and I doubt that we actually make much errors besides simple spelling ones or at the most, punctuation ones too. Well, we will see about that.

A lot of things sort of happened on Thursday. Ok, saw Chuan Hao in the office (even though he should not be there), and so we had a short chat on what happened over the past few weeks.

Then, I helped XJ edit his testimonial, and in the middle of it, our new PC appeared. Hmmm, both him and I had a huge shock cause we didn’t know who he was. Apparently MSD also came to my unit to check on security stuff, so in the end me, XJ and Douglas had to bring like 5 laptops to Company line for them to check. On the way back, Jason had a problem with the forklifts so we went over to help him. Oh, and did I mention that Peter wanted us to show the new folks where the rubbish dump were?

Well, by the time we had some peace, it was already 3 plus. Then had to helped XJ prepare some terminals for use. Oh, but we did use some time to interact with the new guys. Well, the specs seemed fine to me, all like quite fit except for 1 or 2. The men on the other hand, are certainly much less enthusiastic then the specs, and they do look nua. While, what do you expect from the scholars batch. Haha. But there’s not much scholars from what I heard.

Ok, then the biggest arrow came from Dex, who got 4 people to go over to Padang today to lay some cables. Sad to say, Kay, Vin, Ji and Dave got headshot. Ok, except for Dave who committed suicide, and Ji who were shot by Dave, Kay and Vin were innocently shot. It is a real lousy arrow caused they need to some earthworks, as well as brave the weather, and the worst part is that they got back camp at around 8p.m. How much suckier can life get. I do feel bad seeing them get shot like this, cause after all, they are the next in line to ORD.

Well, today was equally bad. After the run, I tu CH on the cash and offs issue. Hmm, I think my clerk must have thought that I am super greedy for offs cause the tone he used today seems to indicate so. Ha, oh well, other people can think what they want because they do not know the position I am in. There are times when I do wonder why is it that I purposely enjoy getting myself into this kind of troubles. Anyway, he claimed that he got reward us somehow. I don’t know how but it better be decent or else the one who is going to suffer is me, not him.

Anyway, had to help Simon do now networking stuff. Apparently the new equipment that Dex brought back, Simon has no idea how to operate it. Well, guess Monday will be a huge headache since it will be something like the blind leading the blind, as we try to figure our way out of the problem. Oh, the 4 musketeers are going back to Padang to finish up their job. Guess I will miss them…Sigh, seems that life in SPH is indeed brillant.

Economics : A's vs. M(A)

Ever since I started giving tuition, some Economics issues does appear in my brain. I mean, now that I have more or less seen the big picture of Economics, I am able to appreciate better those microeconomics topics that I did before. I still firmly believe, like how I tell my student, that Microeconomics is based mainly on Demand and Supply as well as Production and Cost. As long as you are able to master both topics, the rest of ‘A’ level microeconomics should not be much of an issue.

But then, to understand the basis behind these 2 topics is much more mind-boggling. Yes, we are talking about indifference curves. They do provide a pretty good in depth analysis for a lot of micro stuff, but I decided not to teach my student the tool for fear of confusing her.

And this is the issue which I’m grappling with, should I be thinking of how to fit A level work with the university materials that I know of, or should it be the other way round? Since I am going to university, the answer seems kind of obvious that I should really just put my JC stuff in second place. But then, that brings up the question of so what exactly is the point of studying Economics in JC. Haha, I still do not know the answer… Perharps its for people to better understand the world? Or just for them to score and A in.

Anyway, I shall start reading up on the Economist. Hehe, and I shall start to have an Economics post every week again. Sorry folks for digressing from my original purpose of the blog.

小 鱼 儿与花无缺

Oh, I finished watching the series, 小 鱼 儿与花无缺. It was real long (45 episodes in all), but I totally enjoyed it.

Well, it started out as a typical 张 卫 健 show. I mean, it was hilarious, light-hearted, and there were plenty of jokes to laugh about. And there are plenty of pretty ladies too. Let me see, there was 1,2,3,4,5,6 pretty ladies in all throughout the show. Now, that’s quite a bargain right? Hmm, it is definitely a must watch for guys!

However, this show became quite serious towards the end, and it almost became a tearjerker. It is like the saddest show that 张 卫 健 has to date. I mean, the script was totally unlike the original novel, so please do not expect the usual 绝代双娇 plot. Instead, this show has a plot of its own, constantly keeping you in suspense and guessing throughout. I must say that the character development was good, as we truly see that the characters are not just typical stereotypes, and instead complex characters by themselves (a feature that is usually lacking in Chinese dramas). I really must comment the scriptwriters.

Ok, the visual effects were ok, not very stunning and neither are they fake too. Although this is supposed to be a gongfu flick, the action scenes are few and not exactly very captivating either. Instead, those memorable moments were the funny ones as well as those romantic scenes and dialogue bits too. So I guess it is successful in the sense that the actors did a great job in showing emotions, and not just being an action-packed but senseless, unemotional show.

Overall, I give it a rating of 8/10. I’m now watching 大长今, another epic that I think I need 2 weeks to finish. Hehe.

SupEr Busy WeekEnd

I had a great weekend, but at the same time, I officially declare myself as being broke. Yes, let me briefly describe.

Ok, Friday after work we went Orchard Road to shop. Hmm, apparently xj and jh wanted to get belts, but in the end almost all of us got shirts instead haha. I got a shirt at Jean Perry for $60. I must say it looks nice on me, and it is one of those rare few shirts that I managed to find that I look good in. I think I need to work on my chest muscles in although to have a better figure to buy clothes. Anyway, my dad was quite angry that I splurged on the shirt. He calls it too expensive, and he thinks I should not get something so expensive with the limited spending power I have. Hmmm, all this despite the fact that I seldom buy clothes (like only once every 6 months), and that I have literally been desperately looking for a shirt. And please, it's only $60, not like Zara's stuff which cost around $90. Oh well, I'm somebody who believe in getting something I like instead of just wasting cash on things that I dislike or don't care about. But then, I'm not a spendthrift. I believe in saving more than spending. As such, I officially declare that I am in the red, and that I shall go on a savings plan for the next few months.

Anyway, after shopping, met up with WM, got a Seiko watch for him for his birthday (well, his party happens to be on Saturday, that’s why...), and then we went over to Breko to chit chat. Hmm, the watch is nice, I must say, but I guess it's not the type of watch that I will wear now (it is those metallic ones).

Ok, Saturday went to Orchard to meet the gang, before we headed to WM house at CCK. Oh man, he lived super near my sister's friend lor. I was like stumped when I discovered that. But his house is quite ulu la, haha, or maybe it is because anywhere in the West is like ulu to me. Hehe. Well, he got a big house (5 room flat), and it accommodated like 20 of us quite easily. We had a steamboat dinner there, and the ingredients that we had were good. As usual, there were tiger prawns, meat, fish, vegetables, dumplings, fish balls, etc. On top of that, he got scallops, limpets as well as those mini abalone. But in the end, we never eat the limpets. Haha. Oh, and he baked his own birthday cheesecake. I must say that it was quite good, just that it was a bit too small...

Ok, we had a good time at his house, eating, talking, watching his MTVs, doing funny stuff and so on. In the end, I left with SH at around 0130 hours. Ha, it was a real tiring night.

Sunday I went for driving lesson as usual. Then I finished up on Xiao Yu Er (ok, there will be a separate post for that later). Oh, I got the first 30 episodes of Da Chang Jin too! Hehe, I am eagerly looking forward to watching it to see what makes it one of the hottest Korean dramas in town. Then I went to Orchard to support SP's cai, who was taking part in teenage idol. It is really such a pity that she failed to qualify for the next round even though I thought she sang quite well. I mean, she didn't sound awkward or off, unlike some of the other contestants. Perhaps she chose the wrong song (she sang nu ren shuo by Amei), as her voice lacks the explosive power of Amei. Instead, she should have gone for Fish Leong's or Stephanie's songs. I think she has the ability to pull them off perfectly.

Anyway, after that, we had dinner and snacks. I ate the Shilin Oyster Mee Sua, and I admit that it is good. How come I never eat that when I was in Shilin? Hmm, wasted. Hehe, all the Shilin stuff reminds me a lot of Taiwan, especially the chicken cutlet and the Tempura. Oh, I miss the Milk Ice too. Argh, hopefully I can go back to Taiwan next year and tour.

Oh, we went KTV too. Mh suggested it, and for some interesting reason, all of us went. Well, there were only 4 of us, but we had a good time singing. Hehe, I finally sang Qiang Wei too. But Eddy and me had to rushed off because of the last bus issue. In the end, MH and WJ were left and they sang until 1 a.m.

As you can see, I reached home at 12a.m., 2 a.m. and 1210 a.m. for the past 3 days. I am really tired, and also utterly broke due to all the cab fares that I had to pay. The midnight surcharge really hurts!

The Past work week

The week was spent as usual at SPH. Yes, I guess there is no longer any need in me trying to describe to all of ya the lifetime I lived over there. Hehe, I think all my previous posts should have more than enough conveyed the idea of what it is like over there.

Anyway, the bad news (or good news, depending on who you are) is that I will be at SPH again for this week, at least until Wednesday. That means I will most likely (I dare not use the term confirm) be booking in on Thursday. Hmm, I'm seriously quite scared of going back camp. It is not the lifestyle which I am afraid of, but instead the environment. I just heard that I got a new PC (yes, mop is officially leaving next Monday, but he needs to be at his new workplace from Tuesday onwards), and I have no idea what he looks or sounds like. The only few things I know about him is his rank (currently 2LT, going to be LTA soon) and his surname (NG). Oh, another thing which I do know about him is that he is a self-proclaimed people-oriented person, and that he was from poly before going on to university. Hmm, hopefully heaven has answered my prayers - that this new pc is better than my previous in terms of working style and offs. Hehe.

I also just heard that the new men and specs are getting tekkan daily by the ISP people. Well, seems to me that they are indeed having a tough UIP. Looking back, I think I have indeed been very fortunate to have gone through UIP under radio platoon, as well as the fact that I entered CCC during one of their busiest period. Hehe, I never got turned out before. Let's hope that the record carries on as it is.

Oh, 3 SIG is Best Signal (expected), but we are no longer Best Combat Support (also expected, haha). I mean, if we were to win Best Combat Support, then it will reflect really badly on the other units, I mean we were not involved in any exercise ever since MouseDeer, and instead we had been busy with NDP stuff. If doing NDP stuff can get Best Combat Support, then it means that there’s something seriously wrong with the other units.

Oh well, enough of my working place. Let's hope the new week will be a great one.

Some interesting points to note...

Hmmm, I was just looking at my sitemeter reports and I was amazed that somebody could actually find my blog by searching for Permanent Income Hypothesis. Which reminds me, I must really get back to writing Economics. I mean that is the whole reason why I started this! Ok, but I must admit that I did not read up much on the subject, so nothing is troubling my mind now. Hehe.

Oh, and somebody found my blog by googling for "cexiang" as well as "chunsz". It seems that my blog is even ranked higher than chunsz blog on google. Haha!

Oh, you can find my blog by googling for "yale" & "hwa chong" together. "PSC scholarship", "paulaner brahaus", "Singapore gang poem" and "all types of singapore gang song" are some other ways which you can find my blog too on yahoo.

Just SmilE & Wave

Madagascar, a short simple movie about a bunch of zoo animals surviving in the wild, is truly a fantastic movie. It is simply hilarious, more than enough to liven up your week and certainly a good way for you to get out of a depressing spell.

Well, let me briefly describe the movie. Well, it has an amazingly simple plot (ha, I have summarised it in my very first statement), but it is good as it made a lot of allegories to other good movies. That scene which shows Alex fantasizing about his beloved steak is from the classic, American Beauty (ha, it is indeed apt since his desire for meat is almost identical to that of those who craved for sex). Or should I say the producer is trying to say that the human being thirst for sex is the same as that of a carnivore's thirst for meat? That's for us to ponder.

The show is so funny that it was literally ticking my funny bone throughout. The adorable 'squirrel' in the show reminds me of Puss in Boots from Shrek, with those big, lovely and adorable eyes. Haha, and who can forget the classic statement "just smile and wave". I must admit that the penguins in the show really added a lot of humour to the movie (hehe, could it be because penguins are from Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth, that's why the creators chose them to be the epitome of 'coldness', I guess this is something only the Chinese speaking world understands), and I must say that the creators did a great job of viewing things from a different angle.

Amidst all the fun and laughter, the movie is also like a satire on human beings. The idea of nature vs. nurture; the idea that the grass is greener always on the other side; the idea of making friends to use them; friendship vs. personal desires, etc. It is indeed a light-hearted show on the human being.

Ha, of course I still remember how much they like to call Alex, kitty. Hehe. As well as the scene which Melman reminded them that they are running out of time. Haha. It is truly a wonderfully hilarious show!

So just smile and wave. =)