Once again .. once again .. Fate has played a cruel joke.
Here it goes...
On Friday, I informed the product manager that I can't work for a few days and whether it would be alright if I find somebody to take over for the duration.
As i could not confirm who would be taking over, another ger asked if she could refer her friend instead. She called her pal who promptly replied.
The ger who would be taking over is also from NTU.
From Marketing, year 2.
Is a sports camp pageant.
Its all good until...
Until .....
................
..............
........
.......
.....
....
...
...
..
..
..
..
..
.
.
My colleague told me her name is ....
Shan Shan..
I gulped..
Oh man.. I thought... SHeesh..
I know its dumb. I told myself it doesn't matter. But heck it does!
Some super chio bu with the same name is coming in....
I can imagine .. The boys (I call them boys because they really are.. YOUNG. The pre-NS kind of Young.) would go.. oh this Shan Shan is HOT! Wow..
You know its like if there are 2 gers in class called Jasmine and one looks more 'Jasminey' than the other? This happened in my Sec 3 class actually. I only knew there's another ger called Jasmine when I was in Sec 4.. ONE YEAR LATER! One Jasmine is a chio bu dancer. The other well.. is just Jasmine. So normal Jasmine decided to intro herself with her chinese name instead on Day One.
So Miss Hufferphish here decided to be 'cheery' about it and 'prep' everybody for a 'surprise'.
Pre-empting the inevitable comparisons, I decided to be the one to inform them of Shan Shan and conveniently dropped in the fact that she's a chio bu pageant ger, jokingly telling the boys to 'behave'...
So well, I've covered my ass.. More or less anyway.. (Thank goodness there's no such thing as 'Shan Shany'. Unlike names like Mei Ling, Michelle or Elizabeth.)
So honestly.. as juvenile as it sounds. Yeah it matters..and i'm feeling a lil' sore abt it. It certainly doesn't feel very good to have Shan Shan the Pageant take over the work of good old 33 here..
*Sigh*
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
A series of unfortunate events
I fell asleep on the train today. On the way back from Kallang. I knocked into the guy's shoulder a bit and it jolted me awake. Thankfully, I didn't mistake his shoulder for a pillow and drooled on it or anything. Was very paiseh for abt 3mins or so, after which i amazingly dozed off again.
Neways this week has been marked by a series of unfortunate events.
Monday: After meeting the product manager in charged of the project, I was led into an office with phones ringing incessantly. Instead of doing outbound calls, I was to be picking up calls instead for a hotline. The line was so HOT, i truly understood the meaning of 'ringing off the hook'.
There was me, me and me. I was instructed to pick up the phones and take down the numbers while he went away to settle some stuff. 10min later, he was back. I had no idea of what I was doing, what service the hotline provided and had been told by an irate customer that I ought to be fired for not knowing anything.
The perm staff were asked to tend to the phone lines too. I was given a 10min 'brief' briefing abt the hotline's service and proceeded to answer calls the whole day.
What Gonzales would say: Insufficient employee training. Yield management.
Tuesday: By day 2, there were 5 people manning the phones. Manpower's up, but due to poor coordination between the company and the 3rd party company engaged, lots of cheques remained uncollected. It was the epitome of customer dissatisfaction. people sitting at home waiting for a courier to come when no one turned up. These people in turn called back and screeched to their heart's content. very zhe2 shou4.
What Gonzales' would say: Emotional labour, frontline, performing way below expectation.
Wednesday: Some of those folks who complained on day 2 had 2x failed collection!! The courier again didn't turned up even after rescheduling! Oh my..
And Miss Hufferphish here was 'handpicked' by the GM for the dept to do the most "honorable" task. To call back customers whose data had been partially LOST from Day 1. Absolutely queer... Somehow, as there were many people jotting down notes and passing around info, the consolidated excel sheet had blanks here and there. And the sup handed me the file with the instruction to 'fill in the blanks'.
That was tramutising...
A typical call went like this:
Hello Sir, I am calling from the xx promotion hotline. Can I just double -check with you some of your particulars?
What do you need?
IC number please?
XXXXXXX
Thank you. Can I have your address too?
The courier picked up my cheque already. How can you not know my address?
I'm sorry sir. I've been handed this file and need to make sure the data is complete.
No. You ask your own company. ...blah blah...
And the above was a moderate case.
A bad case is:
Hello Sir, I am calling from the xx promotion hotline. Can I just double -check with you some of your particulars?
Oh the XXX hotline. You know yesterday I waited and waited and NO ONE came to pick up my cheque. You promised me. And now your company don't even know my details?? I called and your lines were jammed. Left voicemail and sent email and now you are asking ME? Do you know when is my collection date?
(Missing data) Ehm, I'm sorry sir, can I reschedule for you?
I'm asking you! What time were you supposed to come? You tell me!
(Missing data) EHm, I;m really sorry sir, but this file has been passed to me and I do not have these information.
Your company is so inefficient! How can you don't know? I don't care, I'm not going to repeat myself again. I am going to file a complaint! This is ridiculous./ You should be fired/ You are stupid/ You are XXX. Use your imagination, the results are varied.
Repeat variations of the above conversations about 50 times and that's what I did on Wed. Each call was made with dread.
What Gonzales would say: How IT can help? Communication?
Thur: Today! They employed 5 more boys! Overstaffed!
Somehow, God or Satan or Fate. WHoever's up there, down there, around ? Loves to screw me. 5 new computers had been set up in the cubicles for the new staff. And somehow my computer was moved and I had to shift with it.
They use one number for the hotline and the calls are routed to the next available phone. Therefore phone 1 will ring first. If phone one is engaged, the call automatically goes to phone2. If phone 1,2 are both engaged, it goes to phone 3.
With the change in feng shui, my phone seldom rang today. My phone must be number 9 or 10 in line. Cos there was one other guy whose phone didn't ring much.
ANd the GM had stated in the morning that each person should have served 30 customers, minus those who call in for the wrong reasons and ought to be referred elsewhere. So everyone was scrambling to pick up calls n boost their numbers.
30 alright.Problem is there is oversupply of labour and undersupply of customers. Thursday is considered 'off-peak'.
At the end of the day, the max number by the ger at phone 1 is 20. The minimum by phone no 10 probabely is 3.
I had 5, yes 5.
And i was thrown caustic remarks by the GM.
He came once at 2pm: You only have 2? HOw come so few?
"The calls usually don't reach this phone.. The others are ringing you can hear..." *feeling quite useless*
At 430pm, he was back.
"Your list is still so few? The others are still alright. Yours is pathetic.
Yup, he said PATHETIC.
Excuse me? But i'm not in control of the number of callers?? I can't help it if all the calls get picked up b4 phone no 9 and you've doubled your staff on a day when you don't need it!
Economics? I only supply! I don't generate demand! If a prostitute has no customers, she can do a striptease and generate demand. I can't!
I suppose he just wants to be mean.
Sad to say, I seem to be a magnet for meanies. Mean behavior is constantly directed at Moi.
Bad karma? My face? My voice? Whatever, when people don't like me, they can pick on anything.
WHat GOnzales would say: XXXXXXXX
Someone is bound to be retrenched at the rate things are going. You can't be paying folks to sit around staring at the phone and waiting for it to ring.
The Irony...
Neways this week has been marked by a series of unfortunate events.
Monday: After meeting the product manager in charged of the project, I was led into an office with phones ringing incessantly. Instead of doing outbound calls, I was to be picking up calls instead for a hotline. The line was so HOT, i truly understood the meaning of 'ringing off the hook'.
There was me, me and me. I was instructed to pick up the phones and take down the numbers while he went away to settle some stuff. 10min later, he was back. I had no idea of what I was doing, what service the hotline provided and had been told by an irate customer that I ought to be fired for not knowing anything.
The perm staff were asked to tend to the phone lines too. I was given a 10min 'brief' briefing abt the hotline's service and proceeded to answer calls the whole day.
What Gonzales would say: Insufficient employee training. Yield management.
Tuesday: By day 2, there were 5 people manning the phones. Manpower's up, but due to poor coordination between the company and the 3rd party company engaged, lots of cheques remained uncollected. It was the epitome of customer dissatisfaction. people sitting at home waiting for a courier to come when no one turned up. These people in turn called back and screeched to their heart's content. very zhe2 shou4.
What Gonzales' would say: Emotional labour, frontline, performing way below expectation.
Wednesday: Some of those folks who complained on day 2 had 2x failed collection!! The courier again didn't turned up even after rescheduling! Oh my..
And Miss Hufferphish here was 'handpicked' by the GM for the dept to do the most "honorable" task. To call back customers whose data had been partially LOST from Day 1. Absolutely queer... Somehow, as there were many people jotting down notes and passing around info, the consolidated excel sheet had blanks here and there. And the sup handed me the file with the instruction to 'fill in the blanks'.
That was tramutising...
A typical call went like this:
Hello Sir, I am calling from the xx promotion hotline. Can I just double -check with you some of your particulars?
What do you need?
IC number please?
XXXXXXX
Thank you. Can I have your address too?
The courier picked up my cheque already. How can you not know my address?
I'm sorry sir. I've been handed this file and need to make sure the data is complete.
No. You ask your own company. ...blah blah...
And the above was a moderate case.
A bad case is:
Hello Sir, I am calling from the xx promotion hotline. Can I just double -check with you some of your particulars?
Oh the XXX hotline. You know yesterday I waited and waited and NO ONE came to pick up my cheque. You promised me. And now your company don't even know my details?? I called and your lines were jammed. Left voicemail and sent email and now you are asking ME? Do you know when is my collection date?
(Missing data) Ehm, I'm sorry sir, can I reschedule for you?
I'm asking you! What time were you supposed to come? You tell me!
(Missing data) EHm, I;m really sorry sir, but this file has been passed to me and I do not have these information.
Your company is so inefficient! How can you don't know? I don't care, I'm not going to repeat myself again. I am going to file a complaint! This is ridiculous./ You should be fired/ You are stupid/ You are XXX. Use your imagination, the results are varied.
Repeat variations of the above conversations about 50 times and that's what I did on Wed. Each call was made with dread.
What Gonzales would say: How IT can help? Communication?
Thur: Today! They employed 5 more boys! Overstaffed!
Somehow, God or Satan or Fate. WHoever's up there, down there, around ? Loves to screw me. 5 new computers had been set up in the cubicles for the new staff. And somehow my computer was moved and I had to shift with it.
They use one number for the hotline and the calls are routed to the next available phone. Therefore phone 1 will ring first. If phone one is engaged, the call automatically goes to phone2. If phone 1,2 are both engaged, it goes to phone 3.
With the change in feng shui, my phone seldom rang today. My phone must be number 9 or 10 in line. Cos there was one other guy whose phone didn't ring much.
ANd the GM had stated in the morning that each person should have served 30 customers, minus those who call in for the wrong reasons and ought to be referred elsewhere. So everyone was scrambling to pick up calls n boost their numbers.
30 alright.Problem is there is oversupply of labour and undersupply of customers. Thursday is considered 'off-peak'.
At the end of the day, the max number by the ger at phone 1 is 20. The minimum by phone no 10 probabely is 3.
I had 5, yes 5.
And i was thrown caustic remarks by the GM.
He came once at 2pm: You only have 2? HOw come so few?
"The calls usually don't reach this phone.. The others are ringing you can hear..." *feeling quite useless*
At 430pm, he was back.
"Your list is still so few? The others are still alright. Yours is pathetic.
Yup, he said PATHETIC.
Excuse me? But i'm not in control of the number of callers?? I can't help it if all the calls get picked up b4 phone no 9 and you've doubled your staff on a day when you don't need it!
Economics? I only supply! I don't generate demand! If a prostitute has no customers, she can do a striptease and generate demand. I can't!
I suppose he just wants to be mean.
Sad to say, I seem to be a magnet for meanies. Mean behavior is constantly directed at Moi.
Bad karma? My face? My voice? Whatever, when people don't like me, they can pick on anything.
WHat GOnzales would say: XXXXXXXX
Someone is bound to be retrenched at the rate things are going. You can't be paying folks to sit around staring at the phone and waiting for it to ring.
The Irony...
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Just Like Heaven
Movie review:Warning: Contains spoilers.
Typical typical... Its a simple, light-hearted flick sorta show. What you see in the trailer is basically what you get. Except a tiny little sort of 'twist'. A good way to relax and space out from examinations but nothing spectacular to cry about. I'll probably get nightmares and heart palpations if I watch something like Emily ROse now. Went to check out her story and i don't quite believe that she's really possessed. 6 damned souls stuck in her seems a bit much.
ANyway...
What i found funny was the glaring Inattention TO Detail.
1. If ghost can walk through walls, how come it can lean on the side of a building and not flip off?
2. Funny a major road accident --> crashing into a huge truck leaves you in hospital but with no visible injury. Not a scratch! (I know Reese has to look cute, but isn't that a bit too cute?)
3. And this sometimes have shadow and sometimes no shadow thing which i din notice. (Apparently the special effects people need more coffee.)
4. The 'spend a nite in bed' scene is quite weird.. hahaha.. I'm still wondering if they censored its supposed to leave the audience guessing "did they, or did they not?" ALthough its technically impossible of cos.
5. ...................................................
6. .....................................
7. ...........................
8. ..................
9. ..........
10. ..
ANyway it had a happy ending and Reese Witherspoon is spunky, cute and pretty to bits.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
A tribute to INSANIAQUARIUM
I have been eating my words a lot lately.No i wont play silly games!!! NO!! They're juz bytes!! Argh.. but here i am... yes yes once again I have succumbed to temptation today (which i attribute to exam stress as usual..)
Being my usual Kapo self, I was browsing through blogs when i chance upon a certain game called INSANIQUARIUM which was 'featured' on the blog belonging to a friend of a friend.
I clicked on her link and ended up at POPCAP GAMES and that was it.
Since i had such a crazy time battling aliens from killing my dear phishes, I have decided to feature my bloody gaming experience... though i mus say im nowhere as good as the blogger whose link i clicked on.. Her page was filled and i mean really FILLED with phishes. Scary sia...
The logic of the game is simple: feed your phish, don't let them turn grey and die, and they'll make $$ for you. Collect the coins and jewels they drop/SHIT out and buy more stuff with the Money. AND ZAP those freaking alien attackers!!!
See how cool this alien is? It shoots out rockets and those circle things tell you which phishes they're aiming at.
The preggy phish (the one with the big tummy and wearing a scarf around her neck) makes a farting sound whenever it pops out a new baby phish. Cute!
There are many types of aliens attackers. The one i HATE most is the lump of fat like thing in the pic below. It looks rather uncool and harmless but it gobbles up my phishes real fast!!! I have hence named it the FATGOB
I figure i enjoy the game so much cos I love picking up $$.. Imagine your phishes shitting gold coins.. ANd you can't even pick em up fast enuf..Hah!
For those who are not afraid to end up like me (fingers a bit numb from clicking on the mouse like a freaking nutcase)Play at your OWN RISK.
http://www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=insaniquarium
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Tong Hua Gu SHi
After the headsplitting experience of muggin for LS80, I am finally able to get cracking for Svcs Mktg. I figured I have 6days. Or 5 1/2.
Half of which(mabe one) just went to Wang2 Zi3 Bian4 Qing1 Wa1. Literally translated into 'Prince turn into a Frog'. Its an Ou3 Xiang4 Ju4 which is currently screening on Channel U 7pm Mon-Fri.
Sis just bought Part3 of the VCD for this Ou Xiang Ju to commemorate her end of year holidays and moi could not help but couch in front of the TV with her. Moi who had laughed at her for watching such a stupid show. Moi who had said the male lead is ugly. Moi who got threatened to pay $5 for watching her VCDs. She claims that the rental is $20 for the whole set. Hence her part 3 is worth 7.3333 of rental, therfore i ought to pay $5 for rental at least. Damn.
Neways it is still a dumb show. BUT strangely addictive. Maybe its exam stress. Have you ever wondered why u need more junk food during exam period or watch some crap show just to tune out of studying. ANything that offers temporary relief suddenly becomes enticing.
Coming back to this show. Well, same old formula. Ger mits rich guy, dont know he's rich, cos he conveniently suffered from memory loss. Somehow memory loss happens so much and so often in the world of Taiwanese Dramas. Whenever the scriptwriter can't tink of how to link the story, just hit someone on the head. COncuss and tada AMMESIA! Oh and comas too.
The magic of ou xiang jus...
1. Hot looking guys and gers.
2. The guys must be RICH.
3. Better still, have a BAD rich boy turn GOOD becoz of a pretty POOR ger.
Sounds like Meteor Garden? That must be the mother of ou xiang jus.
BTW: Quite a number of successful ou xiang jus like Meteor Garden one, MVP Qing Ren and Prince to Frog is by the same Zhi4 zuo4 ren2. No wonder they are similar. Her Formula rocks!!
SImple but gr8 ain't it?
To fulfil the fantasy of tons of young nubile gers out there that .. hey u can find a RICH guy to marry. And he's cute and hunky too. Be a modern CInderalla. And rich meaning filthy freaking rich. Like Dao Ming Si and this Shan JunHao of some bloody organization called SENWELL.
And better still those nubile young gers would start buying posters,CDs and VCDs and whatever is churned out. $$$ What a money making venture. To make ppl pay to daydream!
**Pls let me think of a winning formula for TCS and make me rich...**
Half of which(mabe one) just went to Wang2 Zi3 Bian4 Qing1 Wa1. Literally translated into 'Prince turn into a Frog'. Its an Ou3 Xiang4 Ju4 which is currently screening on Channel U 7pm Mon-Fri.
Sis just bought Part3 of the VCD for this Ou Xiang Ju to commemorate her end of year holidays and moi could not help but couch in front of the TV with her. Moi who had laughed at her for watching such a stupid show. Moi who had said the male lead is ugly. Moi who got threatened to pay $5 for watching her VCDs. She claims that the rental is $20 for the whole set. Hence her part 3 is worth 7.3333 of rental, therfore i ought to pay $5 for rental at least. Damn.
Neways it is still a dumb show. BUT strangely addictive. Maybe its exam stress. Have you ever wondered why u need more junk food during exam period or watch some crap show just to tune out of studying. ANything that offers temporary relief suddenly becomes enticing.
Coming back to this show. Well, same old formula. Ger mits rich guy, dont know he's rich, cos he conveniently suffered from memory loss. Somehow memory loss happens so much and so often in the world of Taiwanese Dramas. Whenever the scriptwriter can't tink of how to link the story, just hit someone on the head. COncuss and tada AMMESIA! Oh and comas too.
The magic of ou xiang jus...
1. Hot looking guys and gers.
2. The guys must be RICH.
3. Better still, have a BAD rich boy turn GOOD becoz of a pretty POOR ger.
Sounds like Meteor Garden? That must be the mother of ou xiang jus.
BTW: Quite a number of successful ou xiang jus like Meteor Garden one, MVP Qing Ren and Prince to Frog is by the same Zhi4 zuo4 ren2. No wonder they are similar. Her Formula rocks!!
SImple but gr8 ain't it?
To fulfil the fantasy of tons of young nubile gers out there that .. hey u can find a RICH guy to marry. And he's cute and hunky too. Be a modern CInderalla. And rich meaning filthy freaking rich. Like Dao Ming Si and this Shan JunHao of some bloody organization called SENWELL.
And better still those nubile young gers would start buying posters,CDs and VCDs and whatever is churned out. $$$ What a money making venture. To make ppl pay to daydream!
**Pls let me think of a winning formula for TCS and make me rich...**
Friday, November 11, 2005
Post LS80
LS80 -->Espanol Level One. After taking the paper and munching on a slightly soggy peanut Kuei stashed in my bag, i feel so much better. Talk about soul food...
Quite mentally drained though. Felt like a PC with a RAM of say.. 128MB? I was struggling to assess my faulty hard disk. Bits and pieces of information here and there. A2.5 hrs long memory test.
I think the paper wasn't that bad really. Quite bad but not too bad. I shall seek solace in the fact that its a GE.
Neways, Im not burning any books or tearing any paper. There's only a few sheets of notes in my little folder here, so i doubt i will make a significant contribution to the recycling bin.
Quite mentally drained though. Felt like a PC with a RAM of say.. 128MB? I was struggling to assess my faulty hard disk. Bits and pieces of information here and there. A2.5 hrs long memory test.
I think the paper wasn't that bad really. Quite bad but not too bad. I shall seek solace in the fact that its a GE.
Neways, Im not burning any books or tearing any paper. There's only a few sheets of notes in my little folder here, so i doubt i will make a significant contribution to the recycling bin.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Linguistically challenged?
Warning: Whiny whiny whiny
Its 230 am. 36 hours before the dreaded Spanish exam. And im barely halfway through it. Meaning I took 2days to clear 2 chapters and I have 2 chapters left. Simple arithmatic shows that there is a problem here. Major problem. dammit i shouldn't even be blogging. But here I am..
Relating to my last post, I mentioned that studying is a 'must-do' thing. Once in a while, I come across something i enjoy. Spanish is one of those things. At least it used to be. Our relationship didn't last long though. The love fizzled out soon enough.
I have concluded im either linguistically challenged, have poor memory or worse.. Both. I fear the worst. I have been reduced to a primary school kid studying for a spelling test. Unfortunately, this is the mother of spelling tests. Ive been scribbling all over pieces of blank paper in a bid to practise 'xi2 zi4'. Hoping that scribbling a few more times would somehow make them stay in my alzeimer stricken head.
Ive also done the 'cover with paper and write yourself' thing.
SOb SOb.. this is bad... The bloody oral exam a while back almost killed me. This is 1st degree murder.. No plea bargain.
I reckon ive spent more time on a 3 (pathetic) AUs GE.. REPEAT GE! than an equivilent core over the course of this semester and i just dont get why im reduced to this state 36 hours before the exam.
ARGGGGGGGHHHHHhhhhhh!!!!!
Its 230 am. 36 hours before the dreaded Spanish exam. And im barely halfway through it. Meaning I took 2days to clear 2 chapters and I have 2 chapters left. Simple arithmatic shows that there is a problem here. Major problem. dammit i shouldn't even be blogging. But here I am..
Relating to my last post, I mentioned that studying is a 'must-do' thing. Once in a while, I come across something i enjoy. Spanish is one of those things. At least it used to be. Our relationship didn't last long though. The love fizzled out soon enough.
I have concluded im either linguistically challenged, have poor memory or worse.. Both. I fear the worst. I have been reduced to a primary school kid studying for a spelling test. Unfortunately, this is the mother of spelling tests. Ive been scribbling all over pieces of blank paper in a bid to practise 'xi2 zi4'. Hoping that scribbling a few more times would somehow make them stay in my alzeimer stricken head.
Ive also done the 'cover with paper and write yourself' thing.
SOb SOb.. this is bad... The bloody oral exam a while back almost killed me. This is 1st degree murder.. No plea bargain.
I reckon ive spent more time on a 3 (pathetic) AUs GE.. REPEAT GE! than an equivilent core over the course of this semester and i just dont get why im reduced to this state 36 hours before the exam.
ARGGGGGGGHHHHHhhhhhh!!!!!
Monday, November 07, 2005
Parallels of studying
Having sat for the Political Econs paper today(which turned out to be mainly a scribing exercise), I have some thoughts in my head.
After the paper, I was real pissed with myself. Why? I felt that I haven't done justice to myself. Despite reminding myself time and again to have good time management, that exam is both about knowing your work and knowing how to be exam smart, I didn't finish my paper.
The moment i flipped open the script and scanned through the questions, I made up my mind on which questions to answer and the time I have for each. But alas, it seems that my hand was not listening to my head and I was foolhardy enough to scribble on at the expense of the last question.
WHile waiting for the examiner to collect the script, I decided that i wasn't going to lug the big bag of readings home. However, I didn't chuck it into the first bin i saw. Instead, i carried it up the slope, under the sun and all the way to S4, found a recycle bin at the basement and chucked the pile in, paper bag included.
ALthough i tell myself that the reason for not dumping my notes into the first bin i saw was due to environmental friendliness, I have to admit that i really don't care about the trees and saving the world that much. Truth be told, I coudn't let go of the notes just yet. After all, i had spent many hours painstakingly highlighing and underlining the pages, and had spent much of sunday putting POST-ITS on them. After so much effort, I needed some time before throwing them away. And a dismise in a recycling bin filled with paper seems that much better an end than a putrid rubbish bin.
As i slipped each pile of notes, each tied with a rubber band through the slot, I thought..hey isn't this a little like love?
You see, before the exam is akin to being still in love. Lots of attention and time was lavished on the notes, getting the points, remembering which part goes where....Not that I love studying. I study because I have to. It has always been like this. It is something that has to be done. Neither do I hate it. Sometimes I chance upon topics that I like or find interesting, and I enjoy those. I also enjoy the process of studying and bitching with frenz and having an excuse to eat more junk food and attribute it to exam stress. Most of the time, I am ambivalent. Those who have a passion for the things they study may find this rather sad. To me, it is just part of life. Lots of things are done because there is a need to. More often than not, you do something you don't like, in anticipation of something you like.
Back to the point. The relationship between my notes and me ended after the exam. The love has ended. Just a while ago, they were important. The most important things I was carrying. Just as quickly, they become worthless. Each piece, highlighted and tagged, will be discarded.
However, there are remnants of what was there before. Hence, it takes time to get over it. Therefore, I lugged the heavy paper bag all the way to S4 before I finally understood that there is really no point in carrying it further. It is heavy and weighing me down. The string was making angry red lines appear on my arms. Finally I discard it. EVen then, I threw it into a recycle bin, cos I wanted the end to be better, nicer, not ugly and dirty.
After the paper, I was real pissed with myself. Why? I felt that I haven't done justice to myself. Despite reminding myself time and again to have good time management, that exam is both about knowing your work and knowing how to be exam smart, I didn't finish my paper.
The moment i flipped open the script and scanned through the questions, I made up my mind on which questions to answer and the time I have for each. But alas, it seems that my hand was not listening to my head and I was foolhardy enough to scribble on at the expense of the last question.
WHile waiting for the examiner to collect the script, I decided that i wasn't going to lug the big bag of readings home. However, I didn't chuck it into the first bin i saw. Instead, i carried it up the slope, under the sun and all the way to S4, found a recycle bin at the basement and chucked the pile in, paper bag included.
ALthough i tell myself that the reason for not dumping my notes into the first bin i saw was due to environmental friendliness, I have to admit that i really don't care about the trees and saving the world that much. Truth be told, I coudn't let go of the notes just yet. After all, i had spent many hours painstakingly highlighing and underlining the pages, and had spent much of sunday putting POST-ITS on them. After so much effort, I needed some time before throwing them away. And a dismise in a recycling bin filled with paper seems that much better an end than a putrid rubbish bin.
As i slipped each pile of notes, each tied with a rubber band through the slot, I thought..hey isn't this a little like love?
You see, before the exam is akin to being still in love. Lots of attention and time was lavished on the notes, getting the points, remembering which part goes where....Not that I love studying. I study because I have to. It has always been like this. It is something that has to be done. Neither do I hate it. Sometimes I chance upon topics that I like or find interesting, and I enjoy those. I also enjoy the process of studying and bitching with frenz and having an excuse to eat more junk food and attribute it to exam stress. Most of the time, I am ambivalent. Those who have a passion for the things they study may find this rather sad. To me, it is just part of life. Lots of things are done because there is a need to. More often than not, you do something you don't like, in anticipation of something you like.
Back to the point. The relationship between my notes and me ended after the exam. The love has ended. Just a while ago, they were important. The most important things I was carrying. Just as quickly, they become worthless. Each piece, highlighted and tagged, will be discarded.
However, there are remnants of what was there before. Hence, it takes time to get over it. Therefore, I lugged the heavy paper bag all the way to S4 before I finally understood that there is really no point in carrying it further. It is heavy and weighing me down. The string was making angry red lines appear on my arms. Finally I discard it. EVen then, I threw it into a recycle bin, cos I wanted the end to be better, nicer, not ugly and dirty.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
3 degree slum
The time of the year has come when NTU morphs into a slum.
Day 1: Friday night. The dustbins start to fill up. Having been incalcated with the belief that a little man will pop up and fine us $500 for chucking rubbish in the wrong places, we students do NOT litter. Instead, we attempt to stuff each bin to the brim. After which boxes are stacked on top and around the dustbin, like a macabre Christmas tree.
Day 2: Saturday. Even the smaller bins in the toilets are full. The wastepaper baskets are overflowing.
Day 3: Sunday morning. The rubbish bins start to smell funny. I spotted a couple of wastepaper baskets toppled over along the corridor. A pair of chopsticks and chicken bones. Fellow mugger said she spotted birds picking at the fermenting food.
This coupled with lots of muggers makes the school rather scary. We flop around in our worst state. Guys start to lose their tans, turning a tad pale. Girls turn totally unglam.
To make things worse, the tutorial rooms turn into battlegrounds. A friend experienced a hostile takeover. Muggers armed with books, stake their claims.
The traditional notice pasted outside the door declaring temporary ownership no longer works. Notes / Books / Food placed on tables might be ignored
Come end of exams, things will be back to normal. We will be sane again.
Day 1: Friday night. The dustbins start to fill up. Having been incalcated with the belief that a little man will pop up and fine us $500 for chucking rubbish in the wrong places, we students do NOT litter. Instead, we attempt to stuff each bin to the brim. After which boxes are stacked on top and around the dustbin, like a macabre Christmas tree.
Day 2: Saturday. Even the smaller bins in the toilets are full. The wastepaper baskets are overflowing.
Day 3: Sunday morning. The rubbish bins start to smell funny. I spotted a couple of wastepaper baskets toppled over along the corridor. A pair of chopsticks and chicken bones. Fellow mugger said she spotted birds picking at the fermenting food.
This coupled with lots of muggers makes the school rather scary. We flop around in our worst state. Guys start to lose their tans, turning a tad pale. Girls turn totally unglam.
To make things worse, the tutorial rooms turn into battlegrounds. A friend experienced a hostile takeover. Muggers armed with books, stake their claims.
The traditional notice pasted outside the door declaring temporary ownership no longer works. Notes / Books / Food placed on tables might be ignored
Come end of exams, things will be back to normal. We will be sane again.
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