My Work@Nuffnang
Time at Nuffnang flies by at different speeds.

Sometimes, work can get so hectic, I'm frantically rushing emails before going off to meetings with clients with Boss Ming. And sometimes, both of us sit in the office and laugh at each other.

It's very interesting work experience. And very refreshing.

I think I'm a lousy intern. I have such a terrible memory. It takes a big space of my brain to remember that I have to remind Boss Ming to replace his coupons at 4pm. Eventually, I do tell him. But it's 6pm and he's already ran out to replace his coupons.

After my first day at work, he's already starting his sentences with "Aiyo, auntie ah..."

Anyway it's just the first week - I have loads to catch up. And I sure hope I do!

My Boss
I've only been at work for about four days. And I've learnt many things about Ming:

• He's forgetful, like me. I have a new job and it's to remind him to check up the names of clients before leaving.
  
  
• He's extremely happy all the time. I think it's because he sings along enthusiastically to songs in his car all the time. Every. Single. Track. It's like a mini karaoke session (except Ming is the only one with the mike) when you sit in his car. It's very entertaining, really.
  
  
• He loves food. He looked at me in horror when I told him once that I didn't have a favourite restaurant. ("How can you not have a favourite restaurant? Everyone has a favourite restaurant! Come on, tell me!")
  

My Office
Our office is terribly empty and dusty. I have a big, wide table. There's stationery cluttered all around, but that's my fault because I'm a messy writer. I change pens all the time and I can't decide which is my favourite.

The only interesting thing is Kermit, who sits on some files beside me.

This weekend I'm going grab everything I can from my home to cosy up this place. Boss Ming has warned me against fluffy pink stuff. Damn.

ME Time
My everyday routine has changed, too. Now, I reach home around 8pm or 9pm after dinner. I shower, get into bed with my book. And soon, I've woken to the sound of my 8.30am alarm with my book beside me.

I hope something good comes out of this, since I'm sacrificing jogging sessions for work. Like, great skin since I'm getting snooze time so early.

Pictures up when I have the time!

Duan Wu Jie or the Dumpling Festival has arrived!

For those who don't know the significance of this day, it is to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan who decided to end his life by drowning himself in the river. He was upset that his kingdom was being controlled by others. The people threw rice wrapped in bamboo leaves into river so that fish would feed on the rice instead of Qu Yuan's body. Hence the tradition of eating rice dumplings on Duan Wu Jie.

My friends and I have a habit of celebrating tradition chinese festivals like the Mid Autumn Festival among ourselves. We bring food and games, gather at a location and have heaps of fun. And everytime, I try to make traditional food to bring to our gatherings, like mooncakes at our previous meeting.

This year is the first time we're celebrating Duan Wu Jie, and I'm making rice dumplings for my friends for the first time.

***

I started making dumplings when I was in primary school. My mother wanted to teach me but I refused to learn, so she promised me a few dumplings of my own if I promised to help.

Wrapping the dumplings is not as easy as it looks. There is alot of technique involved - you need to wrap it tightly so water doesn't seep in when you steam them.

I tied a special knot around my dumplings (which were looking like cubes, not pyramids) so I would recognize them when we were done steaming.

When I finally removed the leaves from the first dumpling I'd made in my life, water sloshed out from my dumpling in all directions. The same thing happened to my second and third specially knotted dumpling.

Then my mother handed me another perfect looking dumpling that I didn't remember I'd made, but still bore my trademark knot. I opened it, and it tasted wonderful. I've started making edible dumplings ever since and once during our dumpling making sessions Mum let the cat out the bag and told me that she'd copied my trademark knot on one of her dumplings so I wouldn't feel like such a failure. Haha.

***

Anyway, I've gotten all my ingredients ready for this weekend:

Bamboo leaves
Glutinous rice
Lots of garlic
Fatty pork meat
Mushroom
Roasted chestnuts
Salted egg yolks (I almost forgot this one because I'm not a fan of them)

Now, I just have to wait till midnight to start preparing everything so that they can be consumed as fresh as possible on Saturday night.

Happy Dumpling Festival everyone!

I will be starting my internship at Nuffnang on Monday.

Ming was really charming, funny and nice. I can't wait!

Listening to Paul Potts' rendition of 'Nessun Dorma' has brought back many memories for me. (Youtube link)

I was in the school band back in my secondary school days. I was one of the few chosen to play the string bass because I had a keen sense of hearing, and completed at least Grade 5 piano at that time.

We were then moving towards playing more sophisticated music as our conductor was transforming us from a symphonic band to a modern wind ensemble that more resembles an orchestra. It meant harder score sheets for almost everyone.

The winds had to pretend they were violins, so they always had problems coordinating their breathing and their fingers were constantly on the run. The brass could no longer blast like they used to. And we had to stop hiding behind the tubas (the base of the brass section) and play scores that were ten times more demanding.

But I loved it. We moved towards orchestral pieces and my favourite was opera, because they tell beautiful stories. I especially loved Puccini's Turandot. I fell in love with Nessun Dorma, because that song always reminds me of sunrise. It was ridiculously easy to play for an orchestral piece. It consisted mostly of chords, and more chords. But the easier a piece, the harder it is to play it well.

Nessun Dorma always makes me wistful. I wonder how Puccini would have completed the opera if he hadn't passed away. Somehow, it feels so incomplete, like a story without a happy ending.

Anyway, another opera I love is Verdi's Aida. My favourite piece is 'Grand March' played during Act II. Enjoy!

We were out with Pork's cousin for dinner, who used to work at SGH. He was lamenting that he didn't eat at the hawker centre although it was nearby because walking up and down the hill to get there was a chore.

Then, I started thinking about how the few hospitals that I know of were all on hills. SGH, TTSH and CGH (this one on higher ground). I decided to ask Porky for his opinion.

Me: Pork! SGH, TTSH and CGH all on hills. Is it a coincidence or there's a reason behind it?
Pork: Yah. Got reason one.
Me: Tell me tell me!
Pork: So that when patients die, they are closer to heaven.

Bleah. I should have seen it coming. Anyone wanna give me a proper answer to my question?

You can tell many things about a person's character just by the way he plays games.

Lately I've been watching Pork play DotA quite a bit, because I've gotten bored of 24 and I know he'll be happy if I command him to play.

I realized he's a risk-taker. Not that I didn't know that already, but what is new to me is that he's really a BIG risk-taker. There are many times I felt that he should have retreated but he did not. Instead, he went full steam ahead. Not that it's a bad thing though. There are times when this strategy bore fruits for him; after all the element of surprise is very important in strategy games, when the enemy least expects you to be such a chiongster.

On the contrary, I am quite risk adverse. I think the main reason is probably because I'm a perfectionist. I cannot afford to fail. I have a stock strategy when playing RTS games - I concentrate on building a strong defense and then send my troops out in a single wave when I'm confident enough.

Most of the time, with this strategy, I either win, or lose so terribly I can't recoup my losses. Despite that, I'm only comfortable with this particular way of playing because I'm such a perfectionist, I can't send my troops out in waves because I want to keep the death toll low.

In MMORPGs, I usually play healers. Low risk of dying and I get to save other people too! I introduced Pork to Everquest II and I made him play a tank because I rerolled another class of healer to play with him.

It was madness. I never expected him to fit the role of a tank so well. We ended up arguing alot because he loved exploring and I just love doing sure but mundane kills.

I guess that's why they say, opposites attract?

I'm a full-time bummer and lovin' it.

Since the school holidays started, I have been lazing around at home, wasting the day away. It feels like bliss. Unlike people who find purpose in their life by indulging in activity after activity, I find mine in surfing the net, dabbling a little in photoshop, watching TV and sleeping.

Here's how a typical day for me looks like without dates or outings with friends:

1230: I wake up. Do my usual morning routine - brush my teeth, skincare routine and get dressed.

1300: Check my feeds and news. I spend about two hours clicking around on the computer.

1500: By this time, it is usually bright and sunny. I change into swimming wear, slap on my Banana Boat tanning oil and head down to the pool.

1530: I reach the swimming pool. Choose my favourite chair and dump my barang barang. And then, lower myself very slowly into the water. When I've gotten used to the cold, I start on my 50 laps. In between laps I climb out, dry myself and reapply the oil. Then I lie down and start roasting myself before I jump back into the water.

1730: I stretch down and head back home.

1745: Sit on the couch with my bum all wet and start reading the Straits Times. I have this habit - I don't shower immediately when I get home. I busy myself with something until I feel "ready" to shower. The habit stays even if I'm in a rush for time.

1815: I'm done with the papers fast, because I only read the Home and Life section, and some parts of the main section. Home section because it's like reading the New Paper and I love the Forum page; Life because of the comics. I skip all the propaganda stuff in the main section and read only the World part. I get ready to shower.

1830: Pork calls and says he's done with work. Asks me the usual What do you wanna eat? question. I reply my usual Anything lor answer and he says he'll be at my place to pick me in half an hour's time.

1900: I'm freshly showered. I play with Scruffy while waiting for Pork to arrive. His loud music signals his arrival. I'm now able to tell when he reaches the bend, during which I get out of the house so we reach the carpark at the same time.

1915: We have dinner somewhere. I chatter away while he listens. That's how we update each other, haha.

2000: When we reach home, we watch two episodes of 24. Then I make him play DotA while I watch because watching too much serials gives me headaches. I need variety.

2330: He's done with gaming. We continue watching two more episodes of 24.

0100: It's bedtime. We give our goodnight hugs and kisses and turn in.

On Friday, Qiaoyun called me out for lunch and I tagged along with her to Bugis to have lunch/run her errands because I had nothing better to do anyway. She drove.

I have the worst direction sense ever. And QY probably has a top ten list consisting of places she only knows how to drive to. Sometimes she just takes public transport even though she has the car because she doesn't know the way there. But to be fair, her direction sense is alot better than mine.

So put Wen and QY in a car together, and you will most probably end up getting... Two Very Lost Girls.

I've lost count the number of times we've gotten lost on the roads together. QY blames me for my lousy map-reading skills which usually gets us more lost; and I blame her for not recognizing Singapore roads after driving for so long.

There was once we got lost trying to get to Orchard Road. I remember there was this roundabout, and we couldn't find our way so we ended up going many, many rounds around the roundabout. In the end, she took a different route and suddenly, we found ourselves in a totally foreign place. I was shrieking away hysterically until she said, "Hey! I recognize this place - it's Yishun!" (She used to live in Yishun.)

Eventually we reached Orchard road. Goonfather was very puzzled: "Why did you girls take 2 hours to get here?"

***

Anyway, back to my story. So after Bugis, we were supposed to pick Goonfather up from work. Bugis to Raffles Place. Easy!

Wrong. I was chattering away in the car to her, and then she said, "Hey... I think I'm supposed to make a left here.. Oops!" We missed the turn.

After that, some odd-looking decorations came into view. Yay, we were in Chinatown. Then we tried to find a way out while trying to avoid the many one-way streets there. In the end, she called Goonfather for directions and we found our way.

(I'll let you in on a little secret. QY 'talks' to pedestrians.
"Helloooo you can cross now! Look it's a zebra crossing, it's for you to cross. I'll stop here, please cross!")

In spite of all that, we do have success stories. She's my saviour because she saved me once when I left my keys at her place and locked myself at home. She found her way to Pork's place by herself, came to get me with my keys and got me out! We even managed to find the PIE and get ourselves back to her place. Actually, when she said PIE, I led her to wrong one, the route we take when Pork drives me to school. But she found the correct one that leads us back. Haha.

I'm sure most of us have an It Song.

The song you listen to when you are feeling nostalgic, the song that tides you through your saddest days. You know every single beat and melody of this song because you've listened to it so many times over and yet never tire of it.

I have an It Song which I've forgotten about because life has been pretty good to me and there wasn't any need to rake it up and cry buckets over the lyrics. Today I was scrolling through my mp3 collection for songs to add to my Zen and saw my It Song. Playing it is just like pressing rewind on my life. The times when I turned to this song for comfort and solace.. they all came flooding back.

My song is Finally Found, by Honeyz. I know, it screams Girl Band! Really, what do you expect, I was the typical teenager hooked onto 98.7FM which, at that time, was flooded with songs by girl and boy bands, like the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls.



Haha, I'm getting all teary-eyed and nostalgic now.

She used to be known as Sarong Party Girl. Then it was Miss Izzy. Now, she's the Wired Young Asian Female.

Most of us know about Izzy, who received attention for the nude pictures she posted and the controversial topics she blogged about. I'm pretty conserverative, so I don't quite approve of the things she does. What amazes me though, is that she really doesn't care about what people think. She has so much confidence to do what she thinks is right, and we really have to give her credit for that.

I think being a Singaporean made me this way. We conform and we don't take risks. A friend once told me, the world isn't just in black and white; there are the grey areas too. My eyes are gradually opening. I'm seeing the world through different types of lenses, and I'm finally seeing the grey areas.

I think there's an Isabella in all of us. The part of us which yearns to take risks and break away from norms. I'm graduating soon and in two years' time, I will be stepping into the corporate world. I wonder, how much of me is going to change? And, will it be for the better or worse?

Quoting William Shakespeare,

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”

The future is uncertain. But what is certain is, you can mould it with your own hands. I don't think I want to wait around to find out. It's time to take initiative and risk it.

Finally, I've caught up with the rest of the world - You can subscribe to my feeds now.

It took me quite some time to get it up and running because I created my template in Blogger from scratch and I left out the whole meta content. Anyway, I promised QY I would do it so I gritted my teeth and looked through the whole forest of gibberish html.

She says sometimes she forgets to read my blog because she's got everything on feed. Cannot afford that okay.

Pork and my current favourite past-time is watching American television series. We rotate around series so we won't become too addicted to one particular show and watch it in one breath. We are currently watching Heroes, CSI: Las Vegas, Grey's Anatomy and 24. We've finished everything (and waiting for newer episodes), except for 24. But because we haven't gotten the next season for 24, we were series-less today.

In times like this, Pork and I will do our own stuff. Most of the time, he plays Dota while I surf the net. Sometimes, I watch over his shoulder while he plays, because I like the little phrases the Dota heroes say when you navigate them around. The game itself is pretty interesting because I'm a big fan of games that require loads of teamwork.

One game lasts about one hour, usually less. I don't have such a long attention span so I ask him questions about the hero he's using. I also help him by yelling out when his HP gets low or when I observe the opposite team members sneaking up from somewhere to assassinate him. I can get very worked up when I do that - I liken it to commentating a live football match. Exciting even though you're not one of the players.

Anyway, today I watched him play two rounds and cheered him on. After the games he turned in early so I'm doing my usual surfing.

A few minutes ago, he yelled out from his sleep.
"Dear! I'm being attacked! Help me see where to run!"

Oh my, Pork's dreaming about Dota and talking about it in his sleep. I have to answer, because if I don't, usually he will keep shouting until I do (if he's asking me a question in his sleep).
"Er. Run to the top. Got that monster throwing rocks for you."

Then, silence. I heard snoring. I think I saved his ass in that game. I'll grab my reward first thing in the morning tomorrow.

Met up with Peipei yesterday for some partying.

Yenny was supposed to be there - in fact, I think she was the reason I insisted on partying the night out - but she didn't show.







Was a little disappointed but my disappointment turned into fear when I realised that two girls dancing away equates the invitation of packs of wolves. I don't really like the idea of guys approaching me, I just want to have fun with my girlfriend. And I absolutely have no clue how to turn down guys politely, so I always end up embarassing myself.

We decided to check out Dbl O. I know, I very sua ku, have never stepped in there before. Everything else but the drinks disappointed me. 'Nuff said. The crowd last night at Dbl O was horrible. Probably because it was their ladies' night, and freebies always invites the worst people. Like how, during a Guess sale you see the posh outlet turned upside down by aunties looking for a good bargain.

Anyway, the music was pretty good, good enough for me to want to get to the dance floor and boogey away. BUT, it was empty! People were standing around the dance floor staring at the empty ground, waiting for others to get on first. Sigh.

After a short while I had enough and we decided to get out of that place. We walked down corridors, trudged past a muddy field... and yay! We were lost! So we grabbed a taxi.

Pei: Uncle, Clark Quay please. MOS.
Uncle: Clark Quay there only. Can walk.
Pei: Yah, we know, but we don't know how to.
Uncle: Haha, ok.. but Clark Quay is just there..
Me: (trying to save face) No lah, uncle, we are just tired.

We had heaps of fun there. I think most of the people went on eve of Vesak Day, so last night's crowd composition was a more decent one.

Much more mature people, less touchy guys etc. We also saw some she-males. They had great bodies! Flat tummies, nice legs and great boobs. The only give-away was their strangely structured faces.

I think I'm getting old. I was so exhausted at about 4am, I had to leave. We sat at McDonald's for a little chat and some jokes. Tonight I'm meeting some friends at Dragonfly. I fell in love with that place the first time I went. I'm going to make QY drunk tonight, promise!