the next 2 years

15Nov09

I have many, many goals. I get confused sometimes.

The choice to go into finance had somehow put in me a competitive state of mind. Seeing my peers take up CFA and what nots, being so knowledgeable of financial concepts and the capital market, everyone seems to be heading in exactly the way they wanted and are all set to have a full dash ahead for the next years of their lives. It feels like they are born to do this!

It got me wondering, am I good enough? Is this what I wanted and am I heading the right way? As much as I am aware career paths don’t always turn out the way we expect, but there is this constant fear that I have landed wrongly. But at the same time, I couldn’t be happier to be where I am now.

Yes, it is competitive, but only if I think so.

At week 2 of my career, I may be worrying all too much. Maybe everything is happening too fast and I am adapting to all that is around me. I have to constantly remind myself to keep my focus and simply stop thinking. It’s a bad habit of mine.

I need to learn to be grateful, and content with what I have. To appreciate all that is happening and just focus.

Cut the crap and focus on 2 things only.

Master fund accounting.
Graduate ACCA.

Just two.

How it will turn out 2 years later, do I need to care?

I haven’t even started.

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job hunting, and studying

03Nov09

So, as almost everyone in my circle would have know, Adel is on the prowl, looking for jobs. And boy, is it tough! I don’t know about more experienced people (think George), job hunting for graduates is simply… troublesome.

Application forms go to endless pages long, and filling them up takes me a good 1 to 2 hours, at the same time having to craft my answer to the classic “Why do you want to join us”.

I remembered my very first application to a Big 4, I went through it time and time again, and didn’t release it till I was completely satisfied, which was about a whole weekend later. But of course right now, this process is a lot shortened.

I rejoice whenever I see applications via emails, i.e. Resume + Cover Letter. Chope chope send, and then we wait.

This is also the period of time where I delight to see funny, unfamiliar numbers flashing on my mobile, pick it up and hear an unfamiliar female voice going “Good morning, may I speak to Ms Adelene Wu”. Wah lao, this is when I think back on the applications and think the trouble may be worth it after all.

And then there was the preparation for the interview. In an attempt to up my morale and confidence for the interview, I will never fail to bomb George with the “I zai ornot??” question. He must have been so irritated.

But I do have a lot to thank him for. For guiding my hand throughout this whole process, and objectively telling me where I am wrong. And for loi, who screened through my resume and cover letter, consistently giving me the classic “You’re shooting yourself” grade. Amongst my favourite quotes from loi: “Milk it for all it’s worth”, telling me not to be shy when stating my achievements. Haha!

I’m so glad and grateful to have these two people along the way, because honestly, this tiring endless journey to a first day of work would have been so much tougher.

And as much as I would have like to focus completely on this job hunt, I have to constantly remind myself I have 4 examinations coming up in approximately 40 days. Needless to say, I’m living myself partly in stress, and partly in denial.

At less than 10 applications at current count, I think this is but the tip of the iceberg.

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alice in wonderland

07Oct09

Alice : Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cat : That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice : I don’t much care where.
The Cat : Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.

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a clockwork saturday

05Oct09

Not that it wasn’t enjoyable, but it simply felt I had to be at a certain place at a certain time and do certain things, as planned.

Woke up bright and early and headed for Lewin for the usual 8.30am-1pm classes and thereafter an afternoon tax lecture from 2-5pm in town. (Oh TAX! My lagging-behind tax.)

Rushed down to Holland V hoping and praying that the rain doesn’t catch up with me and did some grocery shopping. Most importantly, purchase a very delicious bag of Lay’s Jalepeno Kettle Chips (a positive highlight of the weekend).

Passed by a provision store selling lanterns and suddenly realised it was Lantern Festival already. Immediately, I bought a lantern gift for George.

He is just such a Doraemon man. -_-

Met the SIM peeps at Fosters- An English Rose Cafe. I went in, and I heart the place.

A quaint, charming place with good steaks and salads and above average service. I ordered a Grilled Mushrooms and Asparagus Salad, served on a bed of rocket and tossed in Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil- my kind of a salad and a good one indeed.

Because I was the only one without a main course, the waitress deliberately delayed my order and served the same time as the mains for the rest, so everyone can have a jolly good time eating together. BUT, they didn’t know I had to leave an hour earlier and simply had to have my salad come earlier. I was rather touched by the thoughtfulness but it would be perfect if they had asked.

Service aside, the ambience was initially touched up by a live singer belting out ballads and slow rock which unfortunately gets louder as time passes and all too sudden, you realise everyone is trying to speak louder than everyone else and the music plays louder than everyone else is speaking, just so all can be heard and yes, a little bit noisy.

After of which, lantern carrying with George!

An extremely unapt day to take pictures. I look ugly in them all.

That’s it. 4 events, 4 places, 4 to-dos ticked off and half the weekend gone.

Fosters – An English Rose Cafe
277 Holland Avenue
Holland Village
Tel: +65 6466 8939

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of balls and a horny man

30Sep09

Ah, one of the rare times when i feel like blogging and my mac is right in front of me.

I just witnessed a very frustrating incident right out of my bedroom window. A good few minutes ago, the entire neighbourhood was well disturbed by a continuous blasting of a car horn at this ungodly 11 o’clock at night, when children are tucked nicely in bed and so are their parents.

“Impatient bastard, just wait awhile can die is it” I thought.

I took a peek out of the window and guess what, the taxi parked nicely in his lot, wanted to get out and this inglorious bastard parked his car right in front of the taxi and well blocking into everyone’s way. Alright, so I had wrongly accused the victim.

So the poor taxi driver had no choice but to horn, and somehow i could feel how helpless he was. If he had a choice, I bet he would have just rammed his taxi right into the inconsiderate car and bid adios.

But of course, he couldn’t. He simply have to horn, and wait. I watched, waiting to see when the bastard will finally show up.

Maybe he’s in the loo? Maybe his girlfriend had an accident and he had to haphazardly park and rush to her house and rescue the damsel? Maybe he isn’t a bastard after all? I mean, yea I had wrongly accused the taxi driver, and i wouldn’t want to wrongly accuse another.

After a good few more hornings, the bastard showed up, right with a packet of piping hot fishball noodles. Ah, so that was what the world had been waiting for- his balls.

Nahbeh, you shift the car first then get your balls cannot is it? In the first place, why so inconsiderate and plug the car there? The taxi driver may just be the one who needs to rescue damsels and answer on-calls to pick his customers what.

Looks like your balls had awaken a good many and made a man very horny.
Screw you.

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so right

30Sep09

“I see when men love women. They give them but a little of their lives. But women when they love give everything.”

-Oscar Wilde

“I see when women love men. They give them but a little of their lives. But men when they love give everything.”

-Georg-e Ang

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for george, on ctx

24Sep09

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return

- Leonardo da Vinci

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blogging again

24Sep09

I haven’t been writing for so so long. So long, that I don’t even feel like writing anymore. Not that I write well in the first place, but I can’t even be bothered to record my dailies even. Simply because life gets more mundane, with lesser meetups, lesser complaints to air to the world and simply living a day-to-day, week-to-week schedule. Running like clockwork. There came a point where I was tempted – close down, or not?

Then a thought came across my mind. I better write. Because writing keeps me conscious of how I’ve been living, to be self-aware. More importantly, it gets me thinking. Thinking about conversations I had with friends, about sights I see, about things that happened and to look back at the week and ask myself- was time well spent?

Besides, I’m such a cockhead at remembering events. I can’t even remember where George brought me to on my first birthday with him, or what presents he got me for the second. How bad is this?

Conclusion? Maybe I should write more. Even if it’s kopi at 925, watermelon juice at Sembawang, fish soup at Noisy coffeeshop, spring chicken at Peaceful coffeeshop (sorry the nicknames we give our coffeeshops), I will write.

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behind the scenes- 09 2009

19Sep09

Everytime September comes around, rest assured Dionne and I have a little more to fret about. Because THREE babies are having their birthdays! Countless emails, planning, BUDGETING (omg the budgets), it sure got us thinking.

We started off with a first round of emails with the official “what-do-you-want” questions. Then came THE BOMB email. And things started getting a little *ahem*. But all went well later, thanks to Dionne. (:

One by one the birthday requests came in. The make up, shoes, wallet, as usual. And loi’s the biggest headache- you tell me what does loi NOT have already? So for this year, Dionne and I insisted she should get a hand-made card because she’s been the sweetest making birthdays and xmas cards for everyone every year and yet no one makes any for her (or that’s what we think). The output and input doesn’t balance.

So amidst the very busy schedules of Ong, Mel and Adel, we somehow met up on a Wednesday afternoon at Plaza Sing to check out craft stuffs for loi’s card. For those who know, getting these 3 to meet is already a celebration in itself. So after 2 hours of feeling confused and lost in the craft store, we finally settled on some very expensive ingredients.

We still have the other two girls right. So adel happily met loi up (another worthy celebration in itself) for Melly’s birthday present, just to check out (not buy) Melly’s. Because we’re such cheapos, we need all form of discounts possible. So loi had previously checked out Isetan, and later we also checked out Robinsons AND Orchard Point. After all the hassle, we finally decided on a Guy Larouche in a lovely plum which everyone agreed is SO mel.

Then comes Ong. Dionne met adel (ANOTHER worthy celebration) to buy MElly’s wallet and later help ong decide on the colours. OMG. Ong if you are reading this, you better use your loots properly because we prolly spent twice the time to help you choose compared to choosing for ourselves. We sampled so many colours and makeup and filled our both hands with so many powders and colours. Next time, please please tell us your preference (light/dark colours, blue/greens, creme or powder) before we risk buying you the wrong things!

So comes the actual day and we all happily met up at Yew Tee on a Saturday night for some steamboat lovin’ and present giving. We actually talk cock sing song until almost 2am! George was like ‘how come you girls have so much to talk about?’. But thanks to George, otherwise the 3 girls wouldn’t have a birthday cake!

My favourite picture of the night (although blurred)-

The cards-

Alex: “Why does loi have a card and I don’t have? ):”
Adel: “Because she is loi.”

The girls

And that’s for 2009. Happy Birthday my girls. We hope you enjoyed your gifts and I do really want to keep this friendship for life. (:

What’s in store for 2010? Dionne and I already have something in mind, so you girls better don’t have expectations. No need for answering the same ol’ “what-do-u-want” questions and just get ready to have a blast!

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Shell 44c Petrol Discount

09Aug09

Man, didn’t know it was this exciting!

For Singapore’s 44th birthday, Shell had a 44c off per litre of discount from 3pm to 4pm on National Day. George and I headed down to Shell @ Yishun only at 4.20pm, hoping and praying that we’ll be in time to catch the offer.

We queued and queued, look and see. Even counting the number of cars in front of us to calculate our chances! It would be terribly sore if we reached the pump and the offer ended right in front of us!

Thankfully we have enough karma points to last us through the pump. And George heck-ed the payment, shift the car away and allow one last car behind us to squeeze into the offer period! The Shell staff was so understanding and kept the pump going non-stop.

But at the end of the day, Singaporeans are still Singaporeans. Some nice, some ugly.

For such 44c offer, cars pumping less than a full tank and cars with red-plates should just fuck off, because honestly, how much do you save. Burning 1-2 litres of petrol in the queue and wasting chances that others need, what the fuck are you doing in such places. Waste-of-space.

Still, being in the frenzy at its very last minute was a rare scene of unity seen among Singaporeans! Couldn’t get anymore united than what the PM meant in his 2009 speech!

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