Roasted marshmallow

A good friend just told me that I am a tough person but it is more likely that I would not want to use my 'toughness'. It seems he may be right. In rubbing salt to the wound, he elaborated further, "You are too naive or gullible or much too trusting." Hmmm...it seems my character flaw is so apparent that it is set to become a disadvantage in any or every situation. Case in point: I was able to bag something very lucrative on my own accord only to let it go because I felt that it would be traitorous on my part as I had already given my word to another. But my friend says there is no such thing as verbal commitments especially when it comes to job offers. As it had evolved into the "highest bidder" situation, he said that I should have gone for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I just hope I made the right decision in sticking to my guns no matter how ludicrous it may be. As for my best friend cum HR guru, all I can say is: "Now I know. And knowing is half the battle."

The pirate has arrived

Captain Sao Feng: Welcome to Singapore.

I simply cannot believe that my favorite band is disbanding. What would Rivermaya be without Rico Blanco? When the heart and soul of a group disappears, it's usually a death knell for the entire band. I just hope this story is a hoax.

The past several days have been spent going around my new home country and greatly appreciating the niceties that exist, such as having a humongous IKEA without the requisite swarm of people (unlike in Shanghai) or having a nightlife that is just as diverse and exciting as its populace. (Example: How about drinking from an IV while sitting down in a hospital bed? That's THE CLINIC for you!) Choice of food, which is a very important criterion for my place of abode, is so abundant here that I haven't even started grazing the tip of the iceberg (Sumptuous chili crab and chicken rice!). The only thing I really dislike is the intense heat and humidity. Give me the four seasons anytime!

Job hunt score: 1 accepted, 4 job offers I declined, 1 I was found to be unsuitable for (in other words rejected), 1 was a case of mistaken job decription (haha) and the rest I still do not know. The strangest thing: to be offered a job as a headhunter by one of my headhunters! (I think she was quite amused with me) The best thing about attending all those interviews: you get to practise your answers to questions which are more often repeated (like what are your strengths and weaknesses etc etc), you learn to have a poker face and be prepared for anything (such as insults), you get to know the industry standard and your worth or value (this is really important for determining one's expectations) plus you get to go around all these places and observe how offices are decorated nowadays (most of the ones I went to were quite ostentatious) and how office workers are dressed nowadays (Some things never change). Unfortunately, without proper shoes, all the walking around has given me blisters! I guess it is a small price to pay for landing that ultimate dream job. As they say: "Choose a job you like and you'll never work a day in your life."

I just hope I can navigate expertly through the dark and treacherous waters. 1 year and eight months of not working may have petrified my brain muscles. Ah, to be like Jack Sparrow and return with nary a trace of bitterness but rather with a joie de vivre to infect everyone. And where is my Will??? (Turner that is...)

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny.

Elaine Maxwell

Justiis

It is no secret that I have long harbored feelings of ill-will towards the present government. For those who do not know the background, you can read some of the postings I have made in my 2 blogs. But to sum up my outrage: "Nobody said that doing good was going to be easy. But they never said it was going to be this difficult. Try as we might to be patriots, it is the system itself through its farcical dispensation of justice which antagonizes those who are law abiding and eventually drives them away to seek equity in other shores."

I think its high time I really stopped wasting my efforts and purge all nationalistic tendencies off my mind. To be selfless is one thing. To be stupid for so long is another. Justiis my *&^%$#@!

Cloud 9

Ever had that heady indescribable feeling of lightness such that you envision yourself in heaven surrounded by angels? Well, I guess that is the closest approximation of my emotions at the exact time I was informed that I got what I had been praying for! The world turned into a rosy-colored place. And my momentary bliss was all the more enhanced by expressions of happiness foisted on me by family and close friends. Ah, to have everything you wanted in your grasp...or almost everything...because there was still one thing missing from the equation...IN DUE TIME I earnestly hope.

Newborn

I guess my hiatus from writing in this blog was equivalent to a pregnancy, that is a 9 month long period. It is for reasons other than my own indolence (such as poor internet connection, too much study load, attempting to fix a former blog in Windows Live Spaces, working towards a separate degree in traveling, hehehe etc etc). I do not wish to promise that I shall faithfully from hereon post with the rapacity of a hungry infant suckling milk from its mother. But I shall try.