how come it is already mid-week?! And the things that I was supposed to have done, wasn't even touched yet. Well.. today had a fast meeting at Pacific Coffee at City Hall there. There's lots of NTU pp there you know, so if you guys wanna get a gd seat there for an intensive, mind-draining meeting.. pls go earlier. 11am shld be fine *winks*

I guess I shld update abt my interview. How shld I say, I alrdy felt the jitters while preparing for it. On one hand I like to think since its 15 mins it'll only be a get-to-know-you session, but on the other hand I know that their stds are very high. So in e end, I ended up stressing myself way before I went in. The rest of my coursemates there were actually very nice. Everyone trying to make each other calm down & relax. And those who went in even selflessly shared the qns they were asked.

how shld I say, I am alrdy a person with not much confidence in myself. although I must admit I'm honoured that I was given a chance to be engaged in such stiff competition for a internship there. I wanted to go in, being myself and give it my best shot. Esp after TWF, I don't want to disappoint. BUT... I failed la, terribly to me.. cos I let myself get too stressed and tensed to answer the qns properly. Made the biggest mistake, there. Lost my mind, left my tongue at the door.

On a lighter note..

this pic was taken while we took a fun time exploring Muji at Marina Square today. The shop is so fun! like another classier Daiso which I rem we had spent 1-2 hrs at IMM during sec sch last time. We went there after our meeting and lunch. Accompanied Eric to do a little shopping and we ended up there. This pic was actually taken with our buys. The bottled drink is plum and apple juice! Its not as good as I thought it would be, but it felt good to be like.. all excited over this new thing you found. Felt like a little kid at the supermarket all over again. Going 'ooh' and 'aah' at all ur new discoveries. Haha!

The packet of snack I'm holding is sth recommended by 8 days. Cheese & cod cracker with black pepper. Pls go try it! Its very unique & tasty!

last nite was a one-of-a-kind experience. dinner at Meritius Mandarin, Orchard. in FULL formal wear. Its the last lesson of The Winning Formula and the topic is dining etiquette. Well, I'll not elaborate on my little disaster during my prep for e dinner that nearly made me late. Nearly late cos I took a cab from Buona Vista straight down and it saved me alot of time. But of cos, it also blow my pocket. Cos I took another cab ride in e morning for my acctg quiz. LOL. But I'm nt complaining.. Its money well-spent.

The food there was great, but I cannot say for myself that I had fully enjoyed the dinner. I think Prof Fock made a very relevant point that at least now we will not mind eating in Canteen B cos there, we do not have to worry how we place our fork and stuff. Haha.. good point!

Anyway, the prof was very nice to share with us his experience but i cant help but feel out of place. Cos the topic was on finance, banking sector and stuff. So most of the time I just nodded, smiled, or laughed at a joke. Or eat of cos. And the students there were all so outstanding that it makes me feel kinda small. LOL. Really.. double spec la, dean listers la.. And one of my classmate is flying to U.S end of this month for her internship. Another got hers at E&Y cos of her scholarship.

But still.. it was a meaningful nite. It was where the profs saw the fruit of their prog. The students who went thru the prog they fought for, and how they saw some of them transformed into another person. And the advice that they gave to us.. Particularly rem Prof Fock's ABC

A=Art Practise what we have learnt till its like an art to us.
B=Belief Believe in urself of cos!
C=Character Without this, even the best academic will fail.

I know they wont see it here but, thks to all e 3 profs for giving me a chance to go to TWF. I hope we can all prove that their hard work is worth it. Starting from my interview later? oops

This entire weekend is devoted to my accounting II quiz tml =_=" Hai. I still got 2.5 lectures of stuff to revise plus tutorial questions to go thru. And hopefully have some time left to practise some questions.

I'm afraid of the Excel quiz, honestly.. Cos there's only one hour for 2 questions. My god. And you still nd to bother abt stuff like spreadsheet DESIGN when I'm sure there's not even enough time to think abt the question. *slaps forehead* This is surely a speed test.

Oh well, dinner at Meritius Mandarin tml evening. You know, I'm not so sure I'm gg to enjoy it, cos I'll be wearing full formal for the dinner and its gonna be with some professors plus the consultants with TWF. Hai.. Long day tml.

ytd met Eugene for dinner and he brought me to AMK to try the bak chor mee that he has been praising for quite some time..

It tasted quite good, I hope this pic captured that. Its actually quite a big serving.. and I like that the mee pok is cooked the right way. Springy and doesn't clump tog like what I've eaten elsewhere b4. Yummy! And the wanton soup is another separate order (:

I'm actually supposed.. to make use of the boost the coffee gave me to start on my acctg revision. But I was a bit distracted after doing some stuff for one of my projects. And.. caught in one of my moodswing. So not the time for it.. not when ur acctg quiz on Monday is 20%..

how should I conclude this week. Not THAT busy, but somehow I still can't manage to find time for some things I would have liked to do. Like studying for my accounting quiz next Monday. Its like MCQs plus an Excel quiz. I don't wish to screw it up cos its a hefty 20% ok.

Monday was a long day. Tuesday found myself running around town in my heels. How many inches? 3 inches I think? I dun really know but it was enough to make my feet hurt the other day la. But at least we accomplished something for our BH227 project. Next up is the accounting project which is starting to make me nervous cos the submission deadline is 19 March and there's like no interview with our client company yet.

But I'm rather happy and motivated despite mainly feeling tired after a long day, not wanting to do much. Because I got shortlisted for an interview with STB! Yay! Competition is very strong of course, but at this stage I'll just give it my best shot, instead of getting myself intimidated by my 'competitors'. 'Competitors' cos out of the other 4 of them, I sort of know 3. So its like.. weird you know? You want them (esp Eric =D) to get the intern but then it means undermining your own chances. So yeah.. Dilemma somehow.

Monday will be a trying day...

Morning: Acct Quiz
Afternoon: Interview with STB
Evening: TWF Dinner at Meritius Mandarin.

Good luck to all going for internship interviews!

pictures first... post shall be later (:

I keep forgetting if I've mentioned the professional imaging class that I'm currently attending. I think I did, but I cant really rem. Anyway, I went to my lesson today cos our trainer has some other training commitments so its sort of a reschedule.

today's lesson.. was conducted by the founder of ImageWorks Asia. I gotta really agree with Christina that their lesson is not just about appearance, actions and verbal aspects, but also the attitude. Its very much like a motivational seminar! I was already quite inspired by Cecilia, but Christina really has a way of talking and engaging us.

And how she told us we really got to have confidence in ourselves and believe in our own strengths for us to be able to stand out and convince the interviewer that.. we are the one they're looking for! Do you know that the questions like.. "Tell me more about yourself." is really not as simple we all think it is.. There is so much you can do with that question to really get the interviewer to know who you really are.

Nt just telling actually. She even showed us how to walk into the interview room, how to sit, how to greet, how to stand etc etc. Even how to smile and the 'right' facial expression that will make you look more 'open' so that you seem approachable and yet not too aloof.

And the sentence of the day?

Do not be afraid to fail, and it will give you courage.

my cousin was reading a storybook to the twins today while we were at my other cousin's place. as they sat and listened attentively (though by the glances they shot me I knew they couldn't understand - we all agreed the book was too wordy for them, but he still read it all the same.) to the story, I cant help but be reminded of myself more than 10 years ago. In the living room of our rented flat, I was struggling to read my first book Alice in Wonderland with this very same cousin.

I rem it was very stressful for me then, cos my english was damn lousy during my P1-P3. I didn't get to enjoy the joy the gals felt at someone reading them a story. Cousin was teaching me how to pronounce the words properly. page by page. word by word. till we finished the whole story and he'll fish out another one from the huge box of books and other stuff he brought over.

Of course I couldn't understand the importance of what he did then, neither did i appreciate it. But even till now, I am deeply grateful for what he did. As some of you may have heard this story before, I honestly owed what I have now to him. If it wasn't for his persistence in brushing up my english.. where would I be now?

I never dared to think the answer to that question. But while sitting at the couch with him just now, I couldn't say all this to him. Not with his daughter on his lap, or the twins sitting side by side me. I was afraid the tears would drop.. haha. cannot be so emo.. so, I say it here..

Thanks kor. You're more a father to me than a cousin, for that.. thank you.

the past 4 days has been very much family time for me, and tml will be the same. Ytd a big grp of 11 of us went to the new airport to walk walk and also *chuckle* show my aunt how to tk the train. Haha.. she cabs a lot, and given the present hikes she's thinking she shld find alternatives to her daily transport sometimes.

haha.. 11 pp is alot to travel tog. Esp when it consists of 2 maids with prams and a pair of korean twin sisters who have seemingly undepletable energy. was quality time spent with our relatives (: u seldom get to hang out tog like this, which is why.. I always try to convince my parents to stay in singapore during new year.

my mum is those type who is very afraid of crowds and big grps of people cos she finds them too rowdy and gives her headaches. As such, we're always mostly the first to leave a relative's house. Very kan chiong type, and very not my type, so sometimes.. there'll be disagreements btw us n her. ha. Just a few words exchanged, no worries.

today is lunch with the rest of the family at my cousin's place. Its actually his home office, he rents it for his work, and we've been going there since last yr. For a pot luck lunch and our usual ban luck session. haha.. its always fun to play with them cos u see alot of drama here and there =P just gotta observe and u'll know by the next new yr or so.. who will give black face when losing money... hahaha.

the younger half of the korean twins. the elder sis ran away, too engrossed with her game with another sis. haha.

the biscuits from hokkaido, which strangely got french words on it. Yummy!

took a much dreaded trip to msia to visit some of our paternal side relatives. I can tell you only our dad is enthu abt the trip la, although I know I shld think from his point of view that he seldom get to go home and see his brothers and nieces/nephews. But some of them really.. irk me. The way they treat their elders.. is very disappointing and saddening.

anyway, left house at like 630am and reach our first destination only at 1130+ cos there were no train tickets and we had to take a bus. And guess what? The bus was damn lousy and like halfway thru we heard sth snap, as in really 'snap!', while the bus was on e highway. And after that it went rickety-rack.. crawling slowly until it could no longer hold out and we changed a bus. The stupid ride made us tired and irritable long b4 we seen any of our relatives.

2nd aunt is her usual self, very hospitable though her house is among the humblest among the paternal relatives (but still, its a 2-storey semi-d). After a rushed lunch, we went to our granduncle and grandaunt's shophouse. My grandpa's brother & wife. Very retro 2nd-hand dealer shop. Was quite surprised to see they got a dog which isn't a stray. Very big and protective, till I decided I better not snap it =P

the row of motorbikes in the shophouse - some stuff they were selling. Granduncle is so cute, cos he's slightly deaf he couldn't hear my dad most of the times. And they had to tell him many things repeatedly by his ear. Ha, but he still drives a motorbike, cool huh!

Last stop was 1st uncle's house. Packed with his daughters who all wed and came home. They were also v hospitable, and keep asking us to eat this and that. One of our cousins also drove us to the train station where we took it home. Seeing uncle standing at the platform, and watching the train move off with us in it.. I cant help but feel a bit.. sad? He seemed to have aged. We did not see each other for very long, and the impression of him wasn't much until now. But still.. u can't help but feel.. wow, time flies. I was a little kid when they last saw me, and now my cousins can recognise my bro and not me. Since I looked so diff, they all forgot.. ha. even tot i'm e younger sis..

Well, I really dunno how am I to squeeze out time for my acct tut. Cos tml I'm meeting my aunts to go to the new airport tog at noon and we're to have dinner outside tog. Sunday is to meet at cousin's house for lunch and rounds of 'ban luck'.. tell me how to find more time..

Went for yingxiu's 21st on Sat after my Prof. Imaging Class. It was very rushed and all, and we were all hungry on the train. LoL. Its like the journey seemed to go on and on, but yet we never arrive at our destination.

Anyway, I think Sompong made a very valid statement - the first time we went to a 21st where the relatives > friends. Haha.. can see her family is a very close-knitted one. Cos almost every one calls her 'Xiu ah...', 'Xiu!'. Haha, got pet names for her de. And my face looks so shiny/oily in the first pic, eeks!

Last night had a sudden craving for western food, suggested to Eug that we go Botak Jones! Was a bit worried there'll be lots of pp and all, but luckily we still managed to find our seats and get our food in quite a reasonable amt of time.

What we did to entertain ourselves during the waiting. Hee. The custom made handphone pouches I bot at one of the bazaar stalls in NTU. I didn't know he took my fingers into the pic as well. Anyway, Eug's new phone is nice! His camera's quite gd, this was taken with it, clearer than mine. 3.2 megapixels. And here comes the main character of the day!

The Cajun Chicken at Botak Jones (Clementi). Hee.. the chicken is tender, but I would rather the fries and chicken not have this bitter aftertaste. Think its cos of the seasoning they use. But still.. very worth the $7.50 price tag, definitely a treat!

recently been busy over the networking night, and I'm so glad that its over now. Of cos, there are always two sides to everything. For the good.. I learnt that HR is so much more than I thought. So much more that I'm a bit worried I'm not able to handle it. Haha.. Jitters about my internship and first job so fast huh. And although the turnout was not what we had expected, the numbers are actually just fine for networking. Fine enough for mingling around. And I'm glad I told Prof Quazi abt how I feel abt our FastCat project. Tough, but definitely very practical learning experience.

The bad.. well. I was tired, shag from my day and I wasn't exactly in 'socializing mode'. So by the time it was for the 3rd and last rotation, I was just listening, spacing out =P and well.. sadly, disappointed by some of my seniors' attitude and way of handling things. Let's just say I feel some of us were taken for granted and could be treated better.

Enough of the networking stuff. I forgot if I've mentioned that lately I've been going for this Advanced Professional Imaging Class tt's been sponsored by the sch. I'm really glad I got called up for it and honestly it is very useful and I learnt alot. 6 modules of 4 hours lesson each. So far its only e 2nd lesson and it was so apt that ytd was the makeup class and I went straight to the networking in my makeup. It was a tad too heavy for me, the blusher. But Eric commented abt how my eyebrows made me looked nicer and Josephine looking more feminine. Woa, talk abt instant effects. haha.. gotta learn drawing my brows and eyeliner le! Before we go work that is..