Birthday Card

I received my first birthday card today. I didn't expect it to come with the $30 Takashimaya voucher. I would have thought there was only the voucher. My department head was the one distributing the card. A pleasant surprise on Friday. However, at the same time, I felt so old.

Approaching the mid-20s, I wouldn't say that I have achieved a lot in life. I have yet to travel around half the world. Nor have I become half a millionaire. However, I am proud of myself that I had the chance to travel widely to countries like Argentina, Chile and South Africa. This kind of lifestyle is what many peers of my age would not have imagined. Attaining the status of being financially independent even before the age of 20 is considered another achievement for me.

Of course, I have a lot of plans in mind for the next 20 plus year...in terms of work and social.

P.S. Unfortunately, I would still be slogging myself on my birthday, as a new lady is joining my team on Monday and my boss will be on leave on the day of my birthday.

Wednesday Night

I met up Ms. S, who is working a few blocks away from mine after work at Secret Recipe. We had a big plan to be carried out on that evening. In order to make the plan a perfect one, first we need a cake (a good enough size to show our sincerity). Then we walked all the way to ORQ. Next, we need to seek an accomplice. He/she has to know our target and be able to lure her to the destinated area for the plan. Luckily, that accomplice happened to sms me on that day about my "hot date" for that evening (I shall go into the content of the sms later). Perfect! Not only can he act as my accomplice to lure my target out for the day, but he could also inform me the best place to carry out the plan. Well, that's how Ms. S and I ended up on the 22nd floor, waiting for our target. And "Tada!". We appeared in front of our target - Ms. J and brought her a cake. It's a pity she has to work on that day. However, I hope she likes the little surprise we had for her. I am sure she must be a little shocked that I appeared at her office after work to deliver a cake, since I was still chatting with her over sms that I had a dinner apppointment.

After "mission accomplished", I had to head to Forum to meet a "friend" working for a particular embassy in Singapore. I would classify him as a "friend" because we only met 4 times (excluding one time that I saw him from far but couldn't recall his name in time). I met this "friend' 3 years ago at his workplace (the embassy) for an interview. Back then, he has only just arrived in Singapore from the UK. It was only few months back, I bumped into him again at a gathering. That was when I realised he knows my colleagues (who are my mentors during my internship). He came for another gathering I organised recently, and we ended up chatting about FTAs (that's Free Trade Agreements if you have no idea what's the abbreviation about). He mentioned he will update me again on the status this week, so we met up at a coffee outlet yesterday. We ended up chatting about dual citizenship and religions. He certainly studies a lot into cultures. Very enriching indeed.

An interesting Wednesday night I had.

P.S. I was supposed to reveal a little about the content of the sms. Apparently, my "accomplice" thought I was going on a "hot date" with a guy from the embassy. He smsed me regarding the "hot date". Of course, I must say I probably disappoint him. As I mentioned to my "accomplice", I was only meeting that "friend" to discuss world issues (technically, FTAs, dual citizenship and religions). The sms my friend sent me next was even more funny - "u can turn world issues to family issues". Honestly, this is really hilarious. At least something I can laugh at when I looked at that sms.

Crazy Weekend

I organised a Spanishinsg gathering at Singapore Flyer on Saturday. Eight people turned up for the event. That's considered not bad for a gathering. I spent a fulfiling 30 minutes with the group. We then headed to Killiney for drinks. Eventually, we decided to split up as some girls want to shop and relax, while the guys were considering a movie together. I joined the guys to check out the timing for the movies. In the end, we ended up drinking at Ice Cold Beer @ SMU. I drank two bottles of Corona, and felt a bit tipsy. I guess it was because I didn't really have my lunch and have drunk with an empty stomach. After the drinks, we went to Raffles City for dinner before joining the girls at Boat Quay for the water show (an arts fest opening ceremony's performance). However, the place was so crowded with people, O and I went to Double O for a drink as there is free admission as part of its anniversary celebrations. I had my third drink of the day. Eventually, O and I decided to join the girls again at an expat's party @ Kallang. I took the last train back home on Sunday.

I spent the rest of Sunday resting at home. I only head out for a haircut at Bukit Timah in the morning. It was a peaceful Sunday, except for the disturbed calls and sms from a "friend". I shall not reveal the content. But I would say I wasn't too sure if he was going to be a "friend" to me anymore. I knew at that point in time I could no longer make him one. I didn't even bother replying. What makes me even more angry with him was the fact that he woke me up in the middle of the night. I was so tired today due to the insufficient of quality sleep till I forgot to update my report for tomorrow's early morning meeting. I would probably have to head to office at 7am tomorrow to finish it before showing my bosses.

Spanish Interests

Another episode of the infotainment program hosted by Belinda features a guy who was offered a job in Switzerland to work for Schwab Foundation. The foundation focused on matching social entrepreneurs to resources all over the world. The job is not only interesting, but also a noble mission to assist the less fortunates. The amazing thing is that the guy's wife also gave up her job to follow her husband to Switzerland for two years. Now the guy is starting another company called Volans Ventures together with some former colleagues from the Schwab Foundation. His new role will even be more challenging with a lot of traveling involved in Asia.

The program is really motivating. I really wish I could be offered a job that is as interesting and fulfiling as the guy. It would be amazing to help out the less fortunates in South America. Not only could I practise my Spanish, I could also gain a chance to really make use of what I learnt during the South America Business Forum I attended two years ago.

My current job is challenging, and I must admit I am pretty reluctant to change anything to the current status. Perhaps you called that complacent. However, I've been thinking whether what I am doing now is what I am good at. At the same time, I believe there's no place for me in media if I even decide to go back. Not in terms of technical knowledge. Rather I meant doing media is what I like but not necessary what I am good at.

Should I continue to get complacent? Or should I seek to pursue my interests? It's such a dilemma.

Sakura International Buffet

I went Sakura at Orchard for international buffet with my mum and a group of aunties. It might seem like a surprise why would I go with a group of aunties. In fact, I know some of them. Most of them are my neighbours. One of the aunties has even watched me grow up. Amazing, isn't it?

The food was not bad. There was quite a variety of food, including scallops, sashimi, sushi, prawns, oyster, shark's fin soup, cream of mushroom, dim sum, tempura, ice-cream and sorbets, satay, grilled meat etc. My favourite is of course the sashimi - the fresh salmon, maguro and prawn. In addition, there was a selection of drinks like mocha, milo, ice tea, lemonade, coffee and tea, etc.

Perhaps it was a Saturday (also the eve of Mother's Day). There were a huge crowd of people. The place seems especially popular with young people. I would suggest this venue for gathering next time. It would be nice to have buffet with a group of friends. I am sure appetite improves when you have friends around.

Mounting Pressure

I'm slowly adapting to the role of a marketing officer. My manager also gradually letting me meet my portfolio of customers and handle requests of those customers. I am also starting to feel the pressure mounting at work. More expectations come not only from my customer, but also from my manager.

Although I am certainly underpaid as compared to industry rate, I think my job is challenging by nature. The work itself involves a steep learning curve. I am practically learning on the job most of the time. Every customers has unique issues to handle, and only when they have requests, I will learn what are the procedures involved. As usual, double standards occured everywhere. I have to always check again and again. I must have pissed off many colleagues by asking too many questions everyday. Haha~ I guess it's all part of learning experiences.

I have my annual leave in August approved. However, I have yet purchased my air tickets. Nor have I booked my accomodation. Tentatively, I should be visiting New York and Toronto. Time to save money for my trip!!!