|C|andid |K|aleidoscope

I quit my job of three-years at a small integrated Marketing services agency in November 2005.  After serving two-months notice and staying on for an extra week to help clear and handover all work, I started applying for all kinds of marketing positions.  To date, I have applied for more than a hundred jobs.  This is what the ease of using the mouse and the Internet does.  I can spend every day sitting in front of my lovely computer, just click-click-clicking away on all kinds of jobs I wish I could get.

That started in January and I am still doing this every day and night.  Of course the interview requests started coming in and I went for a fair share of them.  Some of which, I realised I had no interest in (I must have clicked them late into the night and didn’t know what I was doing by then); others seemed pretty promising and two of which even verbally offered the position to me; the rest were ok but somehow just didn’t quite pull through.

I am officially demoralised now.  I have been jobless and penniless for two months.  Living off the little savings I have (which I can now announce to be totally dried up) and of course relying on THE man for pocket money (this is one of the up-sides of being married!).

I can’t say for sure what went wrong for the two that verbally offered me the job.  But for one of them, I have an uncanny feeling that it has something to do with my ex-employer.  Let’s just say that all her employees has nothing nice to say about her.  The other, I really have no idea what happened.  One moment we were discussing the remuneration package, the next I was told the position has been closed.  Am I asking for too much?  I don’t think so…  But one thing I know for sure, is that experience REALLY counts.

I’ve thought about it and know I want to work in the FMCG/Service/Retail industry.  However, I have near to zero experience in this field.  I guess you can’t count the three-months of part-time retail experience I had during my poly days.  Which I guess is the reason why I am still jobless.  Do I give up my dream of working in an industry which I like to just work in some company which does something I find boring and dry?  Or do I hang on and keep looking for some kind soul who is willing to give me the opportunity to embark on a whole new career which I find interesting and have the passion for?  I am almost going to apply for a job at a well-known local shoe retail chain as a part-time sales associate and try to beef up my resume with this new retail job experience - even though it means a serious pay cut and a waste of the qualifications my mum worked so hard to help me get.  But I have news from a law firm who is willing to pay me more than what I expect, and also from a spa/beauty chain which I am quite sure will be paying less than what I want, both asking me down for a second round of interview.

So the question is, do I go where the interest is, or do I go where the money is?

1 Birthdate?
2nd December

2 Place of birth?
Singapore

3 Blood type?
A+

4 Height?
159cm

5 Weight?
43kg

6 Shoe size?
6-7

7 Work? Study?
Neither. In search of a high-paying job with short working hours and minimal amount of tasks.  Please recommend.

8 Childhood nickname?
Xian Ji (Salted Chicken), Shan Ji (Mountain Chicken), Qi Lao Ji (for the meaning of this nick, pls ask Ms Kiew)

9 Average hours you sleep in a day?
When I was working, 3hrs.  Now, 24 hrs.

10 Time you go to bed?
Usually no earlier than 2am

11 Any siblings?
I love my sister!!!!  She’s the best!!

12 Eyesight – short-sighted, long-sighted or perfect?
Short-sighted, and getting worse year after year

13 What languages do you speak?
English, Mandarin, Cantonese, weird-sounding Hokkien and trying to master Japanese

14 What languages would you like to speak?
French (Ms Yap!! By time you come back and by the time Del is free, we can all go take together!! Hehe..)

15 Nickname on Messenger?
Always changing.  Now: Franz Ferdinand… GREAT!

16 What do you collect?
My Melody stuff, dust… used to collect Coke cans/bottles, and now trying very hard to collect money

17 Model of handphone you are using?
Sony Ericsson S700i

18 What is on your shopping list?
No list.  But I wish to have more bags, shoes, clothes and a white Sony Ericsson W900i…

19 Favourite t-shirt brand?
I don’t own that many t-shirts… But I think it has to be Mango

20 Favourite cut of jeans?
Pls don’t ask me about this.  I seldom buy jeans and I just get whatever that looks good on me.

21 Favourite fashion designer?
None at the moment.  Used to be Calvin Klein cos we share the same initials…

22 Favourite clothing label?
See Qns 21

23 Favourite shoe label?
No favourite!  I welcome shoes from anywhere…

24 Favourite bag label?
Gucci

25 Most dominant colour in your wardrobe?
Pastels

26 Most worn-pair of shoes?
This pair of slip-ons from MBK, Bangkok which costs THB199

27 Favourite shampoo?
Body Shop’s Banana Nourishing Shampoo

28 Favourite conditioner?
Body Shop’s Banana Nourishing Conditioner

29 Favourite bath product?
Body Shop’s Brazil Nut Bath and Shower Cream

30 Favourite facial product?
I don’t use much of facial products…

31 Favourite cosmetics?
I don’t buy cosmetics.  The ones I own are either gifts or free samples!! Haha..

32 Favourite art movement?
What art movement?

33 Favourite artist?
Picasso….

34 Favourite gallery?
I don’t visit art galleries

35 Favourite cold drink?
Bubble tea

36 Favourite hot drink?
I don’t like hot drinks

37 Favourite flavour of ice-cream?
Anything wth caramel

38 Favourite cuisine?
Japanese

39 Favourite sandwich?
Anything with lots of vegetables… and salmon

40 Favourite cake?
Not a fan of cakes

41 Favourite chocolate?
I don’t like chocolate

42 Favourite fast food?
Has to be McDonald’s

43 Favourite sushi?
California maki

44 Favourite breakfast?
No favourite

45 Spaghetti – tomato, cream or pesto sauce?
Cream

46 Beef – rare, medium rare, medium, well-done?
I don’t take beef… Used to, but not anymore

47 Restaurant you frequent most?
No particular one

48 Best dining experience?
Quiet dinner at Bintan… just a couple of metres away from the beach…

49 Worst dining experience?
Town at Fullerton. The irritating waiter actually said something like "Just want to let you all know that this is not like McDonald’s… Don’t expect your food to be served straight away as this is not a fast food restaurant…"  He treated us like idiots and really looked down on us!!

50 Favourite book?
The Long Walk by Stephen King… It shook me up and did something to my brain…

51 Favourite movie?
Current English favourite: ElizabethTown; All-time Mandarin favourite: He’s a Woman, She’s a Man (Part One)

52 Favourite artist writer?
Artist writer?  None

53 Favourite actor?
For the cute, boyish, sexy look: Orlando Bloom/Jude Law; For the manly, charismatic charm: George Clooney/Sean Connery; For the acting ability: Sean Penn/Edward Norton; Asian: Louis Koo and Shawn Yue

54 Favourite actress?
English: Sharon Stone; Mandarin: Anita Yuen

55 Favourite record?
Anything by Jay!

56 Favourite singer?
Jay Chou

57 Favourite band?
1992-1996: Take That; 1996-1998: The Spice Girls; Feb 2006: Franz Ferdinand (after watching their concert a few days ago!!!!)

58 Favourite lyrics?
I’m a romantic love songs junkie

59 Favourite TV show?
Go look at my profile

60 Favourite newspapers?
Not much choice here in good ole’ Singapore… The Straits Times

61 Favourite magazine?
No favourite…

62 Favourite flower?
Tulips

63 Favourite animal?
Penguin!!!  Go read my blog entry on Jan 29

64 Favourite country?
Singapore!!

65 Favourite street (in your country)?
A certain street 41

66 Favourite street (overseas)?
Can’t remember the names of streets… Somewhere in HK

67 Favourite sport?
Netball

68 Scariest movie?
Gui La Jiao (literally translated, Ghost Pull Leg) from the 1980s… I think every kid who watched that then will always have a slight fear of going into the water… and of course The Ring… I didn’t dare look at anything that has reflections for more than a month

69 Funniest movie?
Whatever that makes me laugh… but no slapstick pls…

70 Favourite leisure activity?
Hanging out with friends

71 Favourite public transport?
Thank you SBS Transit and Trans Island

72 Favourite weather?
Depends on my mood

73 Dream honeymoon destination?
Paris

74 Computer you use?
NEC Versa E400 from my Dad

75 Wallpaper on your computer?
Orlando holding the urn and Kirsten beside him - ElizabethTown

76 Screen saver on your computer?
ElizabethTown

77 How many hours on the internet a day?
Eight or more

78 Favourite blog?
No favourite… I love all my friends’ blogs plus a few selected others that I regularly read

79 Favourite news site?
Don’t read the news online

80 Favourite site?
Google

81 First pet?
Two hamsters, who freaked me out when they ate their tiny babies… I was to little to know how to care for them

82 Favourite cartoon from childhood?
Smurfs

83 Favourite toy from childhood?
A baby blue elephant made of some silky material

84 What makes you smile?
When I think about the silly things my friends and I did

85 What makes you cry?
When I think about the mistakes I have made

86 Which celebrity would you like to be?
Madonna for her strength and versatility, Kate Bosworth for the fact that she was/is engaged to Orlando and Patty Hou for the fact that she was/is with Jay

87 What colour would you be if you are a crayon?
Yellow

88 If you can go back in time, which period would you want to be in?
1992 to 2001

89 If you can have your own business, what would you venture into?
Fashion retail or anything lifestyle related

90 What TV program would you like to go on?
None

91 How satisfied are you with your current situation?
On a scale of 1 to 10… 8.  If I had a good paying job in my preferred industry, it’ll be a 10

92 What would you rather be doing if you have a choice?
Be a travelling artist with no qualms in the world

93 The most important thing that has happened in your life?
Getting married

94 What do you think you’ll be doing 5 years down the road?
Hopefully in my desired job, with a happy family

95 Most desired now?
A JOB!!!!

96 Biggest worry now?
Not being able to find a job and having the mounting bills bog me down

97 Most unforgettable incident?
Too many

98 New year resolution?
Please read my blog entry on Dec 31, 2005

99 Your motto in life?
NEVER regret anything I have done, everything happens for a reason

100 Who do you want to answer “100 Things About Me”?
Del, Xin, Pam, Bubbs and anyone else who is really free like me

I adopted a baby boy on Friday, Feb 10!!

Before catching Casanova with the APC gang, Bubbs and I went for dinner at Tea Cosy by Eclectic Attic at Plaza Singapura.  We were captivated by the quaint, pretty setting of the shop cum cafe, and the little knick knacks and vintage stuff they sold.

I ordered "Baby Blue", an ice-cream with a tiny baby doll which I could bring home.  The service staff was pretty serious about me christianing my baby and thinking of a name for him on the spot… After much consideration, I decided to call my baby, Bloomy! No prize for guessing why! 

Baby Bloomy was found set on top of the ice-cream and while trying to retrieve him from the cup, I drowned Bloomy several times, as he kept slipping back into the cup.

The pasta set dinner which Bubbs ordered was not fantastic, but the ambience and setting of the place was good enough to keep us happy.

Casanova is really just a comedy.  Heath Ledger didn’t look good as Casanova and Sienna Miller didn’t look like Sienna Miller.  The guy playing Sienna’s brother looked even better than Heath did.

On Saturday, Sandra and I went to Balaclava.  The live band was really good!!  It’s really amazing how those people could sing and play so well and it inspired me to brush up on my singing skills and go learn how to play an instrument!  KTV joints!! Here I come!!

adopt your own virtual pet!

Do any of you know that I really love penguins??
(I think some of you do know…)
So here it is!!!  My very own pet penguin!  Yippee!!
Stop and play with him for awhile.  But don’t click on him too much!!  Otherwise he may fall! =)

Thank you to the people at Bunnyhero Labs who are considerate and creative enough to think of including a penguin as a pet option!!  You all have really satisfied people like me who do not live at the North Pole or Antarctic or wherever else you may find penguins and given us the happiness and heart-warming experience of being able to say, "I have a penguin as a pet"!!!

Thank you also to Bubbs for introducing this site to me, through her own blog!

I never knew why or how or when I started taking an interest in penguins.  I remembered watching a video clip that was circulating around our emails at one point, of a penguin wobbling by and it got slapped by another penguin… or something like that…  At that very moment, I could remember thinking to myself "Oh my!  These big wobbly blob of black/white mass are just so adorable!  Why do I feel like I’ve been fond of them my whole life??"

About a year back, Pee’s work place organised a family day for their staff at the Jurong Bird Park.  My first thought was "The bird park?!?!  What’s so nice about spending your Sunday with a bunch of people you don’t even know??  What’s so nice about watching a few parrots, hawks or flamingos standing around doing nothing!?!?"  But then, I realised.  There’s something at the bird park which would really make my day!  The penguins!!!!  Excitement starting to boil up inside of me and I just knew I needed to go and take a look at my favourite animal.  Watching them playing in the water and bobbing around their living space brought about a smile and an exhilarated glow.  No words could explain how I truly felt.

So, in the future, if any of you wish to plan a trip to the bird park, please ask me along!!!  I’m now off to grab the DVDs for "The March of the Penguins" and "Madagasca" -  which I sadly missed when they were out in the cinemas!!

Come January 1st, most beings who are in denial will have a list long of stuff that they think they can achieve by December 31 of the same year.  I am no different from all the other self-assumed disciplined people out there and I confess that I am definitely in denial.

Don’t deny it.  We are all liars.  So everytime you say "I don’t lie!" to someone, you are in fact already doing it.  And whoever you are talking to, have all the reason to doubt you.

So as proof, here is my resolution list for all to see and for all of you - my friends - to be the judge on whether I am really as disciplined or determined as I deemed myself to be.  Here goes…

1. Save at least $300 every month
2. Pack and clean my room.  No more piles of books/papers lying around my table.  No more piles of bags thrown randomly in the corner.  No more messy wardrobe where I have to burrow my way through to find what I want to wear
3. Cut down on junk and fast-food
4. Do some form of exercise at least three times a week
5. Stop procrastinating
6. Be less of a lazy-bones
7. Do my best and show enthusiasm in everything I take on
8. Never be late for work or any appointments
9. Visit the library more frequently and read up on all the subjects that I have always been interested in
10. Last but definitely not least, update my blog at least once every month

Okay!  There it is!!  My new year’s resolution for 2006.  Come, ask me on December 31 if I was able to do any of the above. 

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Try it!  It’s fun answering the questions!

9am - Got woken up by I can’t remember who, shuffling around the room.
9:30am - The breakfast queue was long, the service was bad and the food was lousy.
10:30am - The people in the hotel again didn’t know what we were talking about when we asked them about PasarRakyat Bus Terminal.  The guy had to make a phone call to ask where it is before he could tell us how to get there.  Even then, I was skeptical about what he said.

Hit the shops for a last round of shopping before we head home!  All three of us ended up going for a manicure and pedicure as it was so darn cheap!  RM55 for both services!

Our pampering session ran over time and we ended up having to rush, checking out from the hotel and buying mooncakes with cute packaging.

2:30pm - At least the cab driver knew where the bus terminal is.  Had to present our boarding receipt at a dingy looking office and wait for the bus to arrive.

My poor bag (which I incidentally also brought along with me to Bangkok) decided it could no longer withstand the ill-treatment it got from two overseas shopping trips, and snapped at the shoulder strap.  Lucky thing, it still had another handheld strap which I could use.  It must have felt it had had enough of the weight from my shopping and decided to give me a warning by snapping and not tearing completely.

3pm - The bus arrived and we were on our way home.  We only made one stop on the returen trip but the ride was comfortable and we again drifted in and out of sleep, gossiped and read.

8pm - We finally reached the Tuas Checkpoint.  While queuing up for my passport to be chopped, a cockroach decided to run across my feet three times.  I had no idea it was a cockroach the first two times I felt something.  I just stomped my feet a couple of times, thinking the feeling would go away.  On the third time, when I looked down and saw the cockraoch, I was superbly grossed out.  Till now, I am still traumatised by it and can’t help shuddering everytime I think of the incident.

9:30pm - We were dropped off at lavender MRT and while Bubbs and Rainbow shared a cab back, I decided to take the train as I was almost penniless by then.

MY KL trip with Bubbs and Rainbow happened at last, on 3 Sept!

3:30am to 5:15am - Drifted in and out of sleep… I was afraid I’ll oversleep and miss the coach
5:30am - Left the house to catch a cab to Bt Panjang Plaza… Had to still pay mid-night charges… damn it…
6am - Board coach and set off for KL!!

The journey was pretty much uneventful.  We napped, chat, read 8 Days, had drinks and toilet breaks during the two stops we made and watched Spider Man 2, which was showing on the coach.

12pm - We finally arrived in KL, Times Square and immediately set off to catch the local train service to our hotel, Cititel Mid-Valley.

We had to board the KL Monorail and switch to KTM at KL Sentral to get to Mid Valley.  Was pretty confusing.  The KTM train took awhile to arrive and everyone was trying to rush in as if it would somehow shoot off without warning (which can be the case as you do not know what to expect when you are there…).  At the Mid Valley ticket gantry, the queue was terrible but a guy appeared at the side suddenly, and started collecting single-trip tickets from passengers.

1pm - Looks of a hotel’s lobby can be very different from how the rooms are.  The lobby seemed okay but the room seemed kind of dirty and empty.  There wasn’t even a wardrobe, just a metal bar with hangars on it.  But the view was good.  We had Brad Pitt watching our every move (his Tag Heuer ad on a billboard).

After depositing our stuff, we immediately headed to the linked mega-mall, Mid-Valley and started our shopping.  As the Malaysia sale was at it’s last weekend, many of the shops had pretty good discounts and was crowded with people.

6pm - My bag was stuffed by the time we went back to our room.  After freshening up and putting our purchases down, we headed to town where Lot 10 and Sungei Wang was for more shopping and dinner.

More stuff were bought and by 9pm, I didn’t have much Ringitt left.  Had to be very careful with what I was spending on, as there is to be one last round of shopping the next day before heading back to Singapore.

11pm - After dinner at a Chinese eatery we found, we tried to get a cab that would take us using its meter.  No driver wanted to.  We had to settle with a fee of RM12 (Which is really cheap when divided by the three of us.. but being typical Singaporeans, cheap is not good enough.. Free is better).

11:30pm - Somehow, the people in the hotel didn’t know where our bus terminal is.  They have never heard of PasarRakyat Bus Terminal before and we ended up not getting any directions from them.

Not enough towels in the room!  But the housekeeping lady we spoke to refused to give us another one even when we said we dirtied ours.  According to her, we have to exchange the dirty one for a new one.  However, 45mins later, a guy came and gave us the new towel with no questions asked.

Room service was ordered and while waiting, I counted my expenses and packed my purchases.  As always, I am the one who bought the most.  Last November, the three of us went to Bangkok together and I ended up with the most stuff to squeeze into my bag.  This time round, it was the same.

The mushroom soup we ordered finally arrived and it wasn’t good at all.  Unidentified white stuff were found floating in it.  The sandwich was so-so but at least we had Matthew McConaughey entertaining us on The Wedding Planner as we ate.

It was about 1am when we finally finished cleaning up and went to bed, with Brad Pitt watching us deep in slumber.

The Truth About Love… is a sucky movie…

In the movie, the wife (Jennifer Love Hewitt) pretended to be an anonymous admirer and had several rendezvous with her husband (Jimi Mistri) without him knowing she is actually his wife.  On the other hand, Jimi already has a mistress who is known as ‘Martin’ to Jennifer.  So, the husband is having an affair with a third party (Martin) and also with the wife herself (the anonymous admirer).  I’ll probably give this movie a half star rating.  0.25 for Jen’s effort in trying to conjure up a Brit accent and 0.25 to the writer for being able to come up with such a ‘duh’ storyline.

Even though its a sucky movie, at least it tells you one thing: guys think with their d*%#s… (Well, not all guys really.  But most.)

I have proof to backup my claim, from:

1. Truth About Love - but I strongly advise against watching it
2. 8 Days from a couple of weeks back - a report on Jude Law’s romp with the nanny behind Sienna Miller’s back
3. Softpedia™ - a report quoting Orlando Bloom’s sister vehemently defending her brother on his fling with Sienna and insisting he is still very much in love with Kate Bosworth.  "Of course they (Sienna and Orlando) kissed - they are friends and he always kisses his friends"… Yeah right…
4. Class95FM - FD was heard saying "All women recognise men as pigs… and pigs can’t hold their alcohol" (hahah)
5. "The Call" by the Backstreet Boys
6. Fame Game by Claudia Pattison - a rock star cheating on his wife
7. Past experiences
8. The people around me, both ladies and gents, have said that all men can’t be trusted

It takes two to clap.  The lady must be a willing third party.  Otherwise, the man would not be able to get what he wants… But, most men have glib tongues and most girls have hearts like cotton…  It also doesn’t help if the parties involved looks really good - think Jude-Sienna-Orlando-Kate.

Last week, I watched the acclaimed play, "Betrayal".  Although this play does not have an out-of-the-world storyline, it was brilliantly presented in reverse chronological order - starting at the end of a seven-year affair between Jerry and Emma, and ending at the point when the affair started.  Jerry happens to be the best friend of Emma’s husband and how he can possibly betray his best friend as well as his own wife (Judith), leaves me wondering.  But well, Emma betrayed her husband as well, who incidentally also has an affair with another lady.

You all out there may think I hate men.  I don’t.  It’s just a mystery to me, why do men act the way they do…  I’m not saying women don’t do the same thing but as someone from the fairer sex, this question about men automatically pops into my head.

A load of activities were planned for my weekend… but they didn’t happen.

Two of my colleagues (Bubbs and Rainbow) and I were supposed to board a coach bound for KL on Saturday, 6am.  We will then have a whole weekend of shopping at the Malaysia Sale.  This was, however, postponed due to the worsening haze in Malaysia, caused by the forest fire in Indonesia.

We have been planning for a short trip for a couple of weeks.  Just when we’ve decided, booked the hotel and bought tickets for our coach, news of the haze in KL came.  Malaysia declared a state of emergency during the week as the air pollution index (API) reached a dangerous level (more than 500).

Fortunately, the hotel had a policy which allows cancellation to be done 24 hours prior to checkin without any charges.  As for the coach, they refused to give us a refund.  They will only do so if the Singapore Government issues a statement asking Singaporeans not to go to Malaysia.  Asking if we could then postpone our trip, the agency said we will have to pay an extra 25%, on top of the ticket price… This is ridiculous!  It was something we all didn’t expect and we have to pay extra money for it?  After much arguing and calls made, the agency decided they would let us hold our booking until the end of August without any charge, out of good will (bleah…).  If the haze persists, they will then review the case again.

I have been dying to get out of the country for the longest time, just to take a break and have a short holiday.  First, Bubbs and I planned to go to Hong Kong, but as we could not both take leave at the same time, she went ahead with her friend.  Second, Xin and I have been saying for the longest time to save and go to Japan.  But I doubt that will happen as saving is difficult (=P) and I hardly have any leave left. Third, we have also been planning to go to Taiwan next year.  Hopefully, that will materialise and not be one of the many things we want to do, but can’t due to lack of finances or time.

My family has also gone ahead for a trip to Hong Kong without me.  My sister had to be there for work, so my parents went along with her, leaving me all alone in good ole Singapore…

Since my much anticipated trip to KL did not happen, I decided to get my friends to my place for mahjong.  Only half a round was played and Loo had to leave.  Pam was supposed to meet us then, so that we could continue with the game at her place with her mum.  But she was caught up at a dinner with her boyfriend and his family.

So Xin’s and my Saturday night was spent watching meaningless programmes on cable at my place.

Come Sunday… Del and I were supposed to hang out, but both of us had to be home early.  We decided it would be quite a fruitless journey, for her to travel to J8, have coffee for one and the half hours and leave.  My Sunday afternoon was thus spent reading Angels and Demons and napping.  I was also supposed to go back to Jurong in the night but was too lethargic to move.  My Sunday night was thus spent watching Arsenal vs New Castle (Scott Parker!) and Wigan vs Chelsea, and making $1 bets with Pee…