This Week

I losing track of the day of the week. I can't tell if today is Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday anymore. Perhaps every weekdays feel the same now. I'm still working till 7plus every day. I might not be the last in my department to leave office, but I will make sure I am really get a rest when I can't think anymore for the day. However, I still feel that my report is not perfect enough. I need to find inspirations to write it.

I made a stupid mistake today. I dropped my new contact lens. I was left with half of the visibility the whole morning, but I managed to do up my graphs with only my right eye. I only managed to get a new one at IP during lunch and it was raining heavily. I had no choice but to use the underpass to get to that building. This is not the first time I lost my contact lens. However, it is my second time in a week's time. I accidentally dropped my contact lens box together with the lens into the toilet bowl. How careless can I be? I have only myself to blame.

P.S. I must be careful these days...

Halloween

My university friends and I initially wanted to go Nectarie (the dessert store beside Lunar) , but it was too crowded. In the end, we went to Pump Room and had some drinks together. The place became very crowded before the soccer match was broadcasted. We stayed till half time and left for Mac. I had my hot chocolate, while my friends had their filet-o-fish meal and mcnuggets.

Sitting at Mac, we saw many people dresses up for the Halloween Party. There were various interesting characters. Below is a list of some of these characters:

1) Stormtroopers
2) Eyptian goddess
3) Warrior
5) L (from Death Note)
6) Mermaid
7) Fairy
8) Devil
9) Vampire
10) Angel
11) Bee
12) Ghost bride

The coolest costume I've seen is probably the Stormtroopers.

P.S. I really enjoy the "people watching" during Halloween.

Entertainment

I just returned from ICA with my new biometric passport. I went there around 8am. There were already a long queue in front of me. I was made to "tour the circumference of ICA" (i.e. queuing around the building). However, I managed to get it in an hour's time. That's not too bad! At least I won't have to wait alone there for such a long period (I hate doing things without any company.)

I was so tired that I slept on the train on my way back home from ICA. I slept late on both Thursday and Friday night (1am and 2am respectively). In addition, I didn't get quality sleep yesterday because my cough and running nose worsened. Of course, insufficient sleep these days and working long hours have led to my slow recovery from the illness.

Anyway, I have no plans for today, except meeting two university friends tonight at Winebar. I am currently just "parking myself on msn". I might doze off any time (especially since my bed is not too far from my mac). I need to get some life! Friends who want shopping, chilling out etc can start dating me.

He

I've managed to get to know him better these days, as we had more time to chat lately. I realised he makes a very good friend. We can chat on the same frequency. Perhaps not to extent of guessing what's on each other's mind, but we can chat on almost any topics. We were chatting late into the night that day. He finally revealed a little more about himself - his past with me. I think that's a big step for him because he seems quite secretive about himself sometimes. I think he is not comfortable to share too personal stuff with friends of the opposite sex. Well, maybe I can try to change him as a friend. An inquisitive friend he has here.

One Week Has Passed

The first week of my internship (during the graduate trainee programme) has passed. I have spent the last one week doing the same report. My mentors have yet to review the report with me. They are very busy with their own reports. I was talking to one of them today. She commented that the report looks comprehensive. I take that as a compliment for now. However, I am still modifying my report. There's no deadline to it. I am just trying to do my best for that first assignment. Hopefully, I will get a good appraisal for my internship too.

Anyway I realised my worries that day were redundant. Everything was a false alarm. Thanks goodness! I feel so much better with the current status.

Work-Related Illness?!

Is it really work-related illness?

I know I can be a perfectionist at work. I have been working late (till 7 plus) to organise my research for the market report. Yet I always feel that I have no done enough. I really need to check with my mentor soon if I am on the right track. By the end of the week, I should be sitting down with my mentor, finding out what else I need to improve on. It's always good to obtain some feedbacks about work.

However, I also realised there's something at the back of my head. I know I have to talk it out to get it off my load. Bottoming up all the emotions is exasperating. Finding the right person to talk to is another issue. Too bad I am only meeting Jin on Saturday night. Perhaps the best way is to face the music. Though I have no idea how I am supposed to put it into words.

At least I can still sleep early. The medicines should knock me out soon...

Start of Internship

I just started my five-weeks' internship yesterday. I had a short briefing of the department, and spent the rest of Monday browsing through research reports. I hate just reading and doing nothing. What makes things worst is that I sat alone, facing the window. My whole department is behind me but I have no idea what goes on behind me. There is nobody beside me too. At the end of the day, my boss finally gave me the topic of the assignment. At least I know I have the assignment to do today.

I spent the whole day researching on my new assignment - market research on a particular industry in India. The industry comprises of a few sectors, which complicates the whole paper. I worked till around 7 in the evening today. However, I wasn't the last to leave though. Almost the whole of my department was still around. I bidded goodbye to my boss, mentor and my colleagues and left with Mr. W & Ms. H.

I am down with running nose, beside my cough... getting worst...hope I get well by the end of the week...

Dinner on Friday

I went out with some of my university friends over dinner at Waraku, the Japanese restaurant @ Central. We managed to get a seat with a good view of Clarke Quay. The view was magnificient from the restaurant. It was simply romantic sitting there. Though two friends didn't join us. We had a good time gathering together, updating each other of our lives.

After dinner at Central, we went to Nectarie. A dessert place beside Lunar and Candy Bar. My friend had their ice-creams and cakes with alcohol content. I only tried a little of the cheesecake that has zero content of alcohol (so as to avoid worsening my cough conditions). The food 'looks and sounds' delicious. I will check out that place again next time when I recover.

P.S. I hate falling sick for such long period. Life is meaningless without good food.

Boring Friday

An unproductive Friday.

I can't update my passport. I have to make a new biometric passport. That means I have to returned to ICA to collect that new passport, and queue for it. I hate queuing!

In addition, I did nothing since coming back from ICA. I had lunch with my dad at home, and took a nap. I slept more than an hour. I think the cough syrup really knocks me out. I hate falling sick!

I hope dinner with my university friends will turn out to be fun. That would pull me out of the abyss.

First Break

Counting down to Wednesday 5pm! That's officially the time I will knock off and marks the start of my first break (Thu - Sun). Plans have been laid down as such:

Wednesday: Settler's Cafe & Zouk with my colleagues after work. Honestly, I have never been to Zouk. Nor have I attended any Mambo Nights before. Hence, tomorrow will be the day for me to check out the nightspot for once.

Thursday: JB with a friend in the day. I have no idea what time I will stayed there till. However, in the evening I will meet up my colleagues AGAIN at Cafe del Mar.

Friday: Dinner with Ms. W & gang at Waraku (Japanese).

However, before all these plans can ultimately be executed, I will need to finish another day of RDS (a department orientation). At 5.15pm, we will be having a debriefing session with Ms. K, one of the HR personnel (who takes care of us for now). No matter what, I am eagered awaiting for my first break from work!

JB Trip

I just returned from JB with two friends. The trip was great! I had a 40-minute foot reflexology for Ringgit 26 and a sumptuous dinner at Kim Gary. Today is Hari Raya Puasa, and luckily there was no heavy traffic at the causeway. We went in the late afternoon (around 4.30pm) and returned to Singapore at around 10pm.

Colleagues At Work

There is always a variety of characters in a workplace. So is mine. Even the twelve of us each has a distinct characteristic. Below is my personal opinion:

Ms. S - Individualist. She likes to give herself personal space and time. While we are discussing about Friday outing, she was back at her workstation doing her journal. You have to open up yourself before she will open up to you. Then there was this other time...during group discussions, she will sit in one corner, making her own notes. However, her notes are really detailed and nice.

Ms. M - Blunt. She often says things without showing much delicacy or considerations. It's good to be honest sometimes. However, over-doing it might cause you some trouble in the future (not with me), especially in terms of managing relationships. Perhaps being young you can still be blatant about it.

Ms. R - Down to earth. She talks like a school teacher (and in fact, is a tuition teacher as part-time). Good natured girl. She has this motherly nature, bringing me drinks every morning and giving me Vitamin C when I am sick.

Ms. A - Blur. She can be blur like 'sotong'. She looks really serious. However, most of the time she's in her own world. Nevertheless she's a smart girl (graduating from the R's school). She gets along well with Mr. E and often seemed bickering with Mr. D.

Ms. H - Inquisitive. She looks quiet, but she is a very inquisitive girl. She loves to ask a lot of questions during the job orientation. And she is also very hardworking and always taking down notes like Ms. S.

Ms. T - Optimistic. As saintly as her name sounds, she is always with her wide grin. She's a good natured girl who can get along well with the girls and the guys. I am still thinking of ways to make her wear a skirt. That's a huge challenge.

Mr. D - Hyper. He may not have graduated from Finance (he's from Engineering), but he has the most experience in the banking industry among us. He has a boyish face, but he is intelligent. He is the type of person who can spend little time to finish up reading and digest everything he read. He is very energetic and hyper. Talks a lot. In fact, he repeats himself a couple of time to emphasize certain things. Age probably plays a part in his long-winded speeches. He's the oldest among us. Anyway, I nearly forgot to mention he's a great singer in our group.

Mr. S.G. - Crappy. He looks quiet, but he loves to crack jokes with us. At time his jokes can be a little childish. He acts strangely in front of me though. He does a lot of sweet-talk. I have no idea why he's acting so weirdly. Nevertheless, he is very hardworking to prove himself at work. His credit risk management report is as long as Mr. D.

Mr. S.H. - Quiet. He will quietly sit in a corner, looking at his handphone (probably chatting with his girlfriend). He will crap a joke once in a while, but he always gives a very serious look after joking. This makes it hard to tell his jokes from serious talks at times. He jokes more when we are in a small group.

Mr. E - No sense of direction. He possessed this X-factor that makes him a very good friend of girls. In fact, I think he's very sporty about the ideas put forward, he is well-liked by the guys too. However, he can be so clueless when it comes to directions. He needs GPS to drive or at least someone who knows the road to direct him. Even asking him to go along a straight road, he might get lost. I have no idea how he survived his army navigating in the jungle.

Mr. W - Secretive. He is a regular smoker but for some reason he's been hiding the fact from everyone else (the 11 of us). He is being very secretive about it. I have no idea what is the reason behind. Anyway, he always sound sarcastic to me but in a playful manner. However, he has a very good-natured character, which makes him a good friend to chat with.

That's all for the description of my colleagues. I shall do a more detailed write-up next time after more observations.

Different Work Culture

It's my second month at work. Adapting to the working culture is a challenge here. Those who come from European or American firm will probably experience more of a culture shock. Below are some of the cultural tips given to us:

1) PUNCTUALITY is a must. 8.30a.m. means 8.30a.m. A biometric system is present to keep a record of your login and logout time. A report will be submitted to your boss every Monday.

2) Lot of PAPERWORK. Everything needs a 'hanko' (rubber stamp) for approval. You can imagine how much 'hanko' is required before a decision is made. Of course, you will also see papers flying here and there trying to get 'hanko'.

3) ACT busy. The natives will be the first to come and the last to leave. One of them once sent out an email at 1 a.m. However, we discovered that there are colleagues, who didn't stay late to finish up work. Instead, they are some good artistes hiding their talents in the company. They will pass time by drawing manga. And they are others who moonlights (trading on SGX) at work.

4) WastePAPER basket is meant for papers ONLY. No rubbish allowed. The GA will actually store those papers for days before trashing them. This is to prevent any incidents of missing documents.

5) FORMALITY depends on occasion. The natives will always wear a jacket at work to show respect. Or they are just there to show their faces. If they wear their jackets at dinner, that means they are treating the meal as part of work. These natives will only take out their jackets when they treat the event as a casual event. But if you're eating with your boss and he's not in his jacket, that doesn't mean he is not noting down everything you said about work.

6) CONFIDENTIALITY is an important word in the company. Any incoming and outgoing emails are audited. They will keep a copy of all these emails in the server, just like every documents in the company have a specific number of years to be retained as archives. Emails with attachments to external parties have to be locked with a password. And Internet access is only allowed to users, who needs it for work purposes. No thumbdrives and external HDD allowed. Any customer related information can't be brought out of office unless approval has been granted.

Beside the above, there are probably a lot more to be discovered by myself...