*I had 5 hours of sleep yesterday and had to rush to work a stressful 4 hours in the office after being called back suddenly: forgive me if this post is incoherent.
I recently finished reading the 'indie' favourite The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Rats Saw God. Both stories followed the lives of male protagonists as they go through High School, fall in love and so on. They were also written in the '90s and littered with the requisite pop culture references. However the similarities sort of ended there.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower pretty much followed what I expected, plenty of 'hip' literary references like Salinger and Rand (why the hell do indies love Rand anyway? Is there something they perceive about being an individual equate to being selfish?) and the requisite 'hip' music references to The Smiths. I laughed at some points because it was too indie for me. I must admit I enjoyed the personification of the narrator though, because I found I could really relate to him. I understood perfectly how he felt, and have actually felt that way before. However at the end of the I preferred Rats Saw God.
Rats Saw God on the other hand exceeded my expectations. I expected some Hunter Thompson-esque bunch of incongruity, but the originally perceived explosion of drugs never actually happened. No sheets of Mesculin were anywhere to be found. Instead it followed the life of a teenage boy who was relatively drug free until his senior year. I found the book utterly captivating. From the setting up of a highly amusing Dadist society to the ending which led to him fleeing Texas (which made me feel sick because of the memories it brought), it proved to be highly rewarding for a USD6 book.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Mr Gammett has a lot of things to say
Imagine me, the underpaid under appreciated unqualified law intern doing your legal work for you. Legal work that holds the fate of your suits many hundred of thousands dollar judgment in my little hands.
Now doesn't that scare you?
Now doesn't that scare you?
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A recollection from Dubrovnik
I just remembered this:
We had just finished walking around the old city walls and we were all sweating profusely and feeling really hot. The sun was punishing and you could feel the skin burning from the strength of its rays. Basically what we really wanted was a nice cold drink.
I wanted a coke, but cold coke without ice was too sweet and therefore not nice. I looked at the cooler inside the shop.
Get me a 100 plus please!
There's no 100 plus here.
What? Why!
They only have it in Singapore, don't you know? I like drinking it too.
:O HOW TERRIBLE. Do they have Pokari Sweat then?
UH what?
Nevermind, get me a Fanta please.
We had just finished walking around the old city walls and we were all sweating profusely and feeling really hot. The sun was punishing and you could feel the skin burning from the strength of its rays. Basically what we really wanted was a nice cold drink.
I wanted a coke, but cold coke without ice was too sweet and therefore not nice. I looked at the cooler inside the shop.
Get me a 100 plus please!
There's no 100 plus here.
What? Why!
They only have it in Singapore, don't you know? I like drinking it too.
:O HOW TERRIBLE. Do they have Pokari Sweat then?
UH what?
Nevermind, get me a Fanta please.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These
It is perhaps apt that right before (give or take 2 weeks) I leave Singapore for abroad, that I attend a mini school reunion. Just like how days earlier I was getting really excited about how it was the anniversary of one of the most dreaded days of my life, these past few months have often reminded me in the strangest moments how much IB in general has shaped my life.
My Dad used to tell me the reason Michael Jackson was so messed up (this was even years ago before he died) was that because as a child he never got a chance to attend school and mingle with his peers, to grow up dealing with people and all the mini trials and tribulations school brings along. To this I cannot help but agree, school for me provided a safe place for me to grow up in and to understand the world around me.
I learned un-pc truths like how incompetency and inefficiency in endemic everywhere, gained regrets at all the missed connections and things that could've been but never will be, discovered the more unpleasant sides of my psyche, lost my mind, struggled through the most mentally exhausting experience of my life, felt disappointment so many times I can't even count the number of times anymore, got to know the best lot of people ever, became friends with the best lot of people ever, grew as a person in trying to understand myself and most importantly I survived.
The reunion today felt strange. It felt like a year onwards nothing much had changed. It also felt like nothing would ever be the same again, that everything had been forever fully altered. It felt a little like something good that had been left out for a bit too long. It made me wish a little that I didn't go because what I had preserved in my mind was too good and anything further could only serve to taint my memory.
After the reunion most of us from .9 ended up drifting towards the bus stop where mild chaos unfolded as multiple snap decisions were made to take various buses and 'go where the bus goes'. In the end we boarded 166 supposedly to go to Arab Street, but we ended up alighting at VivoCity. Dinner was at White Dog Cafe (I think) followed by more aimless drifting about towards Timezone. After dismissing it as utter rubbish, the group splintered up to go meet the KKK, go home and go to Elliot's place.
In the end only JLC, Patrick, Gerald, Justin and I ended up at Elliot's place. They started playing Scrabble "wah SEX ruins everything" - Elliot while I channel surfed. We ended up watching Iron Chef, the rice special, Prom Night (good God) and finally the last 10 minutes or so of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the end Elliot sent me home.
I don't remember anything very outstanding about tonight. It was a night like most of the class outings. The same people, personalities, innuendo laden conversation, laughter. Yet I know I would have been so much more worse off had I not attended.
I'll miss 6.9 2008.
My Dad used to tell me the reason Michael Jackson was so messed up (this was even years ago before he died) was that because as a child he never got a chance to attend school and mingle with his peers, to grow up dealing with people and all the mini trials and tribulations school brings along. To this I cannot help but agree, school for me provided a safe place for me to grow up in and to understand the world around me.
I learned un-pc truths like how incompetency and inefficiency in endemic everywhere, gained regrets at all the missed connections and things that could've been but never will be, discovered the more unpleasant sides of my psyche, lost my mind, struggled through the most mentally exhausting experience of my life, felt disappointment so many times I can't even count the number of times anymore, got to know the best lot of people ever, became friends with the best lot of people ever, grew as a person in trying to understand myself and most importantly I survived.
The reunion today felt strange. It felt like a year onwards nothing much had changed. It also felt like nothing would ever be the same again, that everything had been forever fully altered. It felt a little like something good that had been left out for a bit too long. It made me wish a little that I didn't go because what I had preserved in my mind was too good and anything further could only serve to taint my memory.
After the reunion most of us from .9 ended up drifting towards the bus stop where mild chaos unfolded as multiple snap decisions were made to take various buses and 'go where the bus goes'. In the end we boarded 166 supposedly to go to Arab Street, but we ended up alighting at VivoCity. Dinner was at White Dog Cafe (I think) followed by more aimless drifting about towards Timezone. After dismissing it as utter rubbish, the group splintered up to go meet the KKK, go home and go to Elliot's place.
In the end only JLC, Patrick, Gerald, Justin and I ended up at Elliot's place. They started playing Scrabble "wah SEX ruins everything" - Elliot while I channel surfed. We ended up watching Iron Chef, the rice special, Prom Night (good God) and finally the last 10 minutes or so of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the end Elliot sent me home.
I don't remember anything very outstanding about tonight. It was a night like most of the class outings. The same people, personalities, innuendo laden conversation, laughter. Yet I know I would have been so much more worse off had I not attended.
I'll miss 6.9 2008.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Spooky
! Talk about weird coincidences. Just after I wrote the thing about a year ago I went back to check my entries from last year.
Happy 1 Year IOC Anniversary Date.
Okay now I really need to get to sleep.
Happy 1 Year IOC Anniversary Date.
Okay now I really need to get to sleep.
Time
It just occurred to me that just a year ago, I would have been half awake at this very time sitting outside my house waiting for the school bus to come pick me up.
It would never have occurred to the me of then that the reason why I am awake at the exact precise time a year later is because of jet lag, for I have not slept the entire night. It is 6:49 PM in the US.
It would never have occurred to the me of then that the reason why I am awake at the exact precise time a year later is because of jet lag, for I have not slept the entire night. It is 6:49 PM in the US.
Somebody call 911
Jetlag feels powdery. It feels like someone has coated powder all over your fingertips, brain, neck, soft padded part of feet. It feels like the automatic mental inversion of time, like 5:40 am instead of 5:40 pm. It feels like exhaustion and yawns, but without the actual lack of rest and sleep. It feels like you should be somewhere else, instead of where you really are.
Monday, August 17, 2009
I didn't listen to my ipod the entire 30 hour travelling time back
So here I am, safely arrived in HK airport and waiting for my transfer flight back to Singapore. I’m happy I’ve made it alive so far; especially after the harrowing flight I just had from Chicago to here.
Well it really wasn’t a harrowing flight. There was the usual turbulence and absurd plethora of movies that I slept through, the same amount of too little leg room and visions of dying from deep vein thrombosis. Only difference this time is what can be described as the theoretical seat mates from hell. Theoretical meaning they gave me psychological torture, but didn’t actually do anything.
First comes the one I call Junior. He’s called Junior because through repeated observations I inferred that he was Senior’s son. Except Junior is of an indeterminate age ranging from 17 to 27, making me reconsider this inference multiple times. Junior looks like a gangbanger. A gangbanger in the ‘hood’, ‘crips’ and ‘bloods’ sort of gangbanger. He had tattoos all over his neck, arms. If he had a H A T E on every knuckle too I wouldn’t have been surprised, except I was too scared to look.
Junior also comes with the rest of the gangbanger stereotype. He had a shaved head, slight goatee, droopy pants and black t-shirt that was too large for him. The only thing missing really was the hugeass chains they use to choke people to death with, though I imagine he only removed it because airport security would’ve been a pain. Did I mention he looked really scary? And Vietnamese? That made me think of the Vietnamese gangs in Australia, the most insane and fiercest of gangs (read it somewhere), though I guess there are Vietnamese gangs in USA too.
At one point of time 17 Again came on. I happened to look to my right and saw Junior watching it. The thought of a gangbanger watching Zac Efron prance about on stage was too funny, so I giggled in my head. The thought of this was too hilarious so I snuck another glance. To my disappointment Junior was sleeping, his eyes were closed. However the split second I looked at him, his eyes opened. Opened like a horror movie. Opened like I’m going to bash your brains in and destroy you. Opened like OH MAH GAWD I’M GOING TO DIE!!!!!!
And to further illustrate my point on how terrifying this was to me, a tiny small harmless Chinese girl, this is what the expression on my face was:
So I spent the rest of the flight sleeping/cowering and avoiding looking at him.
Senior wasn’t really scary. Just curious. He was a dark wrinkled man who spoke Cantonese and Vietnamese. First he assumed I was from HK and said Mmgoi. Then he gave up and just spoke in English. He was a raging alcoholic. Raging in every sense of the word. Just like how some people drink water, this guy drank beer. The only relief was that it was Tsgingtao Beer, of which I shall make the assumption that it is watered down and has a low alcoholic content because he did not get drunk after 8+ cans of the stuff throughout the 14 hour flight. He had tea once too I guess.
This was all after accidentally sitting in row 51, realizing my mistake and moving up a seat before anyone caught me. I looked longingly at that seat every time I got up to go to the bathroom.
Well it really wasn’t a harrowing flight. There was the usual turbulence and absurd plethora of movies that I slept through, the same amount of too little leg room and visions of dying from deep vein thrombosis. Only difference this time is what can be described as the theoretical seat mates from hell. Theoretical meaning they gave me psychological torture, but didn’t actually do anything.
First comes the one I call Junior. He’s called Junior because through repeated observations I inferred that he was Senior’s son. Except Junior is of an indeterminate age ranging from 17 to 27, making me reconsider this inference multiple times. Junior looks like a gangbanger. A gangbanger in the ‘hood’, ‘crips’ and ‘bloods’ sort of gangbanger. He had tattoos all over his neck, arms. If he had a H A T E on every knuckle too I wouldn’t have been surprised, except I was too scared to look.
Junior also comes with the rest of the gangbanger stereotype. He had a shaved head, slight goatee, droopy pants and black t-shirt that was too large for him. The only thing missing really was the hugeass chains they use to choke people to death with, though I imagine he only removed it because airport security would’ve been a pain. Did I mention he looked really scary? And Vietnamese? That made me think of the Vietnamese gangs in Australia, the most insane and fiercest of gangs (read it somewhere), though I guess there are Vietnamese gangs in USA too.
At one point of time 17 Again came on. I happened to look to my right and saw Junior watching it. The thought of a gangbanger watching Zac Efron prance about on stage was too funny, so I giggled in my head. The thought of this was too hilarious so I snuck another glance. To my disappointment Junior was sleeping, his eyes were closed. However the split second I looked at him, his eyes opened. Opened like a horror movie. Opened like I’m going to bash your brains in and destroy you. Opened like OH MAH GAWD I’M GOING TO DIE!!!!!!
And to further illustrate my point on how terrifying this was to me, a tiny small harmless Chinese girl, this is what the expression on my face was:
So I spent the rest of the flight sleeping/cowering and avoiding looking at him.
Senior wasn’t really scary. Just curious. He was a dark wrinkled man who spoke Cantonese and Vietnamese. First he assumed I was from HK and said Mmgoi. Then he gave up and just spoke in English. He was a raging alcoholic. Raging in every sense of the word. Just like how some people drink water, this guy drank beer. The only relief was that it was Tsgingtao Beer, of which I shall make the assumption that it is watered down and has a low alcoholic content because he did not get drunk after 8+ cans of the stuff throughout the 14 hour flight. He had tea once too I guess.
This was all after accidentally sitting in row 51, realizing my mistake and moving up a seat before anyone caught me. I looked longingly at that seat every time I got up to go to the bathroom.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Something filled up my heart with nothing
I have an annoying habit of mentally composing things in my mind, like for example blog posts. I then have the even more annoying habit of forgetting my thoughts, which results in frustration at my not being able to recall the exact wording. Yesterday was one of those times, where I spent the duration of the car ride from Philadephia's airport back to the house.
In essence the past 12? 13? days have been rather exciting and jam packed. Thus I take the liberty to be really lazy and type in short sharp bursts of words, with the tenses all over the place too.
-----
Flying at night from Philadelphia to De Gaulle. On demand movies that called out your name and prevented you from sleeping. Blast of cold icy Parisian air from bus to terminal. Flight to Venice. Blast of sticky heat stroke Venetian air. Board ship. Be wowed. Feel tired. Take photos. Run about Venice. Take a gondolier ride. Eat a tiramisu ice cream. Look at masks. Get hit by a flying pigeon. Board ship. Gorge self silly for dinner. Sleep for 12 hours. Wake up for boat drill. Flop about like a fat penguin in a neon orange life vest. Forget the rest of the day. Prepare for formal night. Attend dance/singing show. Eat more dinner again. Meet table mates. Laugh. Take photos. Meet photo shop Sameer. Repeat for 10x more days in various exotic locales.
Discover the Mediterrean is hot as hell. Discover Europeans have not heard of air conditioning before. Discover ties first came from Croatia. Discover not all Greek islands have white houses and blue roofs. Discover a random Asian Art museam on Corfu. Discover Captain Cornelli's Mandolin was filmed on Argostoli. Take a belated interest in Argostoli after complaining about the heat the entire time we were there. Enjoy buying 1.50 euro large bottle of coke from the Argostoli supermarket. Find a racist nigger rapper doll. Find racist doll sings 50 cent's In Da Club. Discover seas so aquamarine blue and clear it looks like a dream. See wind farms from the ship's deck. Feel tired multiple times in between. Sunbathe somewhere in between. Spend too much time lying on belly during subathing. Shower and find out that you're now two-toned. Watch The Big Lebowski. Ride a donkey up to Santorini. See white houses and blue roofs. Swear never to ride donkeys again. Admire little alleys. Decide to come back again, for perhaps a Summer job?
Go to Sicily. Find out why Sicily is such a popular gangster haunt (It's a dump. Looks like Manila.) Find out that Syracuse is too far to drive from Catania. Discover the Aragon family has roots in Catania. Wonder how the ancient royals survived the heat in their multiple petticoats. Visit a fort. Admire how bad Sicilian drivers are. Admire how crappy Sicily is. Learn that Sicily is but a small representation of the whole of Italy. Marvel at how chaotic Naples is. Marvel at how chaotic Rome is. Marvel at how they remind one of Nepal. Suffer through train rides in airless smothering heat. See Versuvius. See old lava. Enjoy cool air rushing past hot skin. Run away from hot, but B.O. smelly shirtless blonde guy. Marvel at how large Pompeii is. Rush about from locale to locale in Pompeii. Debate whether place is a public toilet or kitchen. Rush back to train station. Frantically look for clothes that cover scandalous knees and arms. Get annoyed at legs that are too long because dresses don't cover the knees.
Rewear dress worn on Corfu. Buy a shawl to wrap around shoulders. Wake up early. Listen to car blaring techno music on the way to the train station. Sit on train. Open windows. See Vatican. Kick self upon the realisation that Oxford probably looks like the Vatican. Queue to see St Peters. Sweat like crazy in shawl and dress. Laugh when sleeveless, knee revealing women get chased away. Marvel at St Peters. Feel like praying. Visit Vatican Museum. Walk through halls like a herd of sweat sticky sheep. Get pushed from place to place by the crowd till we reach the Sistine Chapel. Get yelled at to shush by Vatican guards. Get pushed out of Sistine by the crowd. Eat goopy flavourless undercooked pasta for 5 euros in the cafeteria. Gape at how rich the Catholic Church must be. Rush to Spanish steps. Rush to Church of bones, to find it closed. Skip about happily at seeing Via Veneto. Get stared at by local after repeating Via Veneto repeatedly. Rush to Colosseum. Buy a frozen bottle of water for 2 euros. Lap at water to moment it melts in the bottle. Rush to forum. Pretend you know what ruins you're staring at. Wish Tourism Ministry put some effort into providing information on ruins. Rush to Panthenon. Gape at how this isn't the Panthenon you envisioned. Realise Pantheon invision is in Athens, not Rome. Ride a local bus to the train station. Run to train to see it pull away. Mope. Use bathroom after paying 50 cents euro. Take impromptu shower with cold cold tap water. Pat dry. Sit on train ride back home... with slight blasts of air conditioning!
Join tour group. Feel like bits of cows being herded about. Fall asleep on bus. Arrive in Pisa. Climb leaning tower. Get freaked out at height. Feel drunk as you walk sideways. Arrive in Florence. See a dead pigeon on steps of Santa Croce. See dead pigeon's ribs with the organs missing. Wonder if theres pigeon organ trafficking. Get herded into leather workshop. Jump at prices of leather goods. Find out tour guide is mysteriously Austrian, not Italian. Go for lunch. Eat blandest lasagne on earth. Drink too much wine on an empty stomach. Try, and like Italian coffee. Visit Santa Croce. Get annoyed with new tour guide and tune into the other groups' tour guide on the ear pieces given. Give up and walk off. Buy a candle. Pray. Look for Machiavelli's tomb. Find it being renovation. Take a picture anyway. Buy a postcard of his grave, so you can actually see what it looks like. Give up on tour group completely and wander away. Find statue of David. Find Ponte Vecchio. Eat hazelnut and pistachio gelato. Stumble upon Il Duomo. Get blown away by how majestic it looks. Get blown away by the crowd to get in. Vow to come back and visit again. Go back to Santa Croce. Buy a scarf. Board the bus back. Get back. Eat dinner. Take more photos. Talk to Sameer. Sleep away.
Wake up in transit. Feel ship in choppy water. See white caps. Eat formal lunch. Wander about. Read. Pack. Arrive in Barcelona. Watch Captain Cornelli's Mandolin. Feel sad, but not as sad as watching The Duchess. Stay on board ship. Meet Ivan in library. Get list of recommended places to visit in Barcelona. Go for dinner. Take more pictures. Watch performance during farewell dinner. Feel sad. Say good bye to Sameer, Arun and the other people who served us during the cruise. Reminiscence about the magic tricks Arun did during the trip to entertain us. Sleep. Wake up. Pack more. Eat the last Scottish Eggs Benedict. Look for Arun, but not find him. Linger about in cabin. Leave cruise ship. Board taxi. Arrive at Holiday Inn Express. Admire how clean and nice Barcelona looks compared to Italy. Be awed by their subway system. Be awed by La Sagrada Familia. Take train to Barcelona's version of Via Veneto. Buy new SD card because SD card has run out of space. Walk about Barri Gotic and the Cathedral. Look for Museum. Walk about more looking for a non smoking eating place. Have paella, tapas and a San Mig. Enjoy Jamon Iberico ham immensely. Take train back towards La Pau (isn't that such an awesome name? LA PAU!). Get back to hotel. Watch MTV in German. Shower. Sleep.
Wake up. Get mini tour of Barcelona by taxi driver. Arrive at airport. Run into trouble because there's no proof I'm flying out of the USA. Get problem solved. Board plane 2 hours late. Praise God for more On Demand movies. Watch My Life in Ruins. Vow to go to Athens. Sleep. Watch Star Trek. Read and finish The Cellist of Sarajevo. Watch The Simpsons. Watch Mulan. Arrive in Newark late. Wait ages for baggage to come out. Run from baggage claim to customs. Run from customs to the transit counter. Get told plane is still boarding. Run from transit counter to security. Take of shoes. Run from security in sock clad feet clutching dirty converses. Run on travellators. Feel pain. Arrive out of breath at boarding gate to amazed airline workers. Become last to board plane that has a total of 9 rows. Wait on tarmac for 30 minutes. Get into the air. Arrive in Philadelphia after 20 minutes. Watch as baggage is unloaded... to find ours isn't there. Drive back. Eat instant noodles for dinner. Go to WalMart and buy clothes. Go home. Sleep. Rest. Wait for baggage to come the next day.
In essence the past 12? 13? days have been rather exciting and jam packed. Thus I take the liberty to be really lazy and type in short sharp bursts of words, with the tenses all over the place too.
-----
Flying at night from Philadelphia to De Gaulle. On demand movies that called out your name and prevented you from sleeping. Blast of cold icy Parisian air from bus to terminal. Flight to Venice. Blast of sticky heat stroke Venetian air. Board ship. Be wowed. Feel tired. Take photos. Run about Venice. Take a gondolier ride. Eat a tiramisu ice cream. Look at masks. Get hit by a flying pigeon. Board ship. Gorge self silly for dinner. Sleep for 12 hours. Wake up for boat drill. Flop about like a fat penguin in a neon orange life vest. Forget the rest of the day. Prepare for formal night. Attend dance/singing show. Eat more dinner again. Meet table mates. Laugh. Take photos. Meet photo shop Sameer. Repeat for 10x more days in various exotic locales.
Discover the Mediterrean is hot as hell. Discover Europeans have not heard of air conditioning before. Discover ties first came from Croatia. Discover not all Greek islands have white houses and blue roofs. Discover a random Asian Art museam on Corfu. Discover Captain Cornelli's Mandolin was filmed on Argostoli. Take a belated interest in Argostoli after complaining about the heat the entire time we were there. Enjoy buying 1.50 euro large bottle of coke from the Argostoli supermarket. Find a racist nigger rapper doll. Find racist doll sings 50 cent's In Da Club. Discover seas so aquamarine blue and clear it looks like a dream. See wind farms from the ship's deck. Feel tired multiple times in between. Sunbathe somewhere in between. Spend too much time lying on belly during subathing. Shower and find out that you're now two-toned. Watch The Big Lebowski. Ride a donkey up to Santorini. See white houses and blue roofs. Swear never to ride donkeys again. Admire little alleys. Decide to come back again, for perhaps a Summer job?
Go to Sicily. Find out why Sicily is such a popular gangster haunt (It's a dump. Looks like Manila.) Find out that Syracuse is too far to drive from Catania. Discover the Aragon family has roots in Catania. Wonder how the ancient royals survived the heat in their multiple petticoats. Visit a fort. Admire how bad Sicilian drivers are. Admire how crappy Sicily is. Learn that Sicily is but a small representation of the whole of Italy. Marvel at how chaotic Naples is. Marvel at how chaotic Rome is. Marvel at how they remind one of Nepal. Suffer through train rides in airless smothering heat. See Versuvius. See old lava. Enjoy cool air rushing past hot skin. Run away from hot, but B.O. smelly shirtless blonde guy. Marvel at how large Pompeii is. Rush about from locale to locale in Pompeii. Debate whether place is a public toilet or kitchen. Rush back to train station. Frantically look for clothes that cover scandalous knees and arms. Get annoyed at legs that are too long because dresses don't cover the knees.
Rewear dress worn on Corfu. Buy a shawl to wrap around shoulders. Wake up early. Listen to car blaring techno music on the way to the train station. Sit on train. Open windows. See Vatican. Kick self upon the realisation that Oxford probably looks like the Vatican. Queue to see St Peters. Sweat like crazy in shawl and dress. Laugh when sleeveless, knee revealing women get chased away. Marvel at St Peters. Feel like praying. Visit Vatican Museum. Walk through halls like a herd of sweat sticky sheep. Get pushed from place to place by the crowd till we reach the Sistine Chapel. Get yelled at to shush by Vatican guards. Get pushed out of Sistine by the crowd. Eat goopy flavourless undercooked pasta for 5 euros in the cafeteria. Gape at how rich the Catholic Church must be. Rush to Spanish steps. Rush to Church of bones, to find it closed. Skip about happily at seeing Via Veneto. Get stared at by local after repeating Via Veneto repeatedly. Rush to Colosseum. Buy a frozen bottle of water for 2 euros. Lap at water to moment it melts in the bottle. Rush to forum. Pretend you know what ruins you're staring at. Wish Tourism Ministry put some effort into providing information on ruins. Rush to Panthenon. Gape at how this isn't the Panthenon you envisioned. Realise Pantheon invision is in Athens, not Rome. Ride a local bus to the train station. Run to train to see it pull away. Mope. Use bathroom after paying 50 cents euro. Take impromptu shower with cold cold tap water. Pat dry. Sit on train ride back home... with slight blasts of air conditioning!
Join tour group. Feel like bits of cows being herded about. Fall asleep on bus. Arrive in Pisa. Climb leaning tower. Get freaked out at height. Feel drunk as you walk sideways. Arrive in Florence. See a dead pigeon on steps of Santa Croce. See dead pigeon's ribs with the organs missing. Wonder if theres pigeon organ trafficking. Get herded into leather workshop. Jump at prices of leather goods. Find out tour guide is mysteriously Austrian, not Italian. Go for lunch. Eat blandest lasagne on earth. Drink too much wine on an empty stomach. Try, and like Italian coffee. Visit Santa Croce. Get annoyed with new tour guide and tune into the other groups' tour guide on the ear pieces given. Give up and walk off. Buy a candle. Pray. Look for Machiavelli's tomb. Find it being renovation. Take a picture anyway. Buy a postcard of his grave, so you can actually see what it looks like. Give up on tour group completely and wander away. Find statue of David. Find Ponte Vecchio. Eat hazelnut and pistachio gelato. Stumble upon Il Duomo. Get blown away by how majestic it looks. Get blown away by the crowd to get in. Vow to come back and visit again. Go back to Santa Croce. Buy a scarf. Board the bus back. Get back. Eat dinner. Take more photos. Talk to Sameer. Sleep away.
Wake up in transit. Feel ship in choppy water. See white caps. Eat formal lunch. Wander about. Read. Pack. Arrive in Barcelona. Watch Captain Cornelli's Mandolin. Feel sad, but not as sad as watching The Duchess. Stay on board ship. Meet Ivan in library. Get list of recommended places to visit in Barcelona. Go for dinner. Take more pictures. Watch performance during farewell dinner. Feel sad. Say good bye to Sameer, Arun and the other people who served us during the cruise. Reminiscence about the magic tricks Arun did during the trip to entertain us. Sleep. Wake up. Pack more. Eat the last Scottish Eggs Benedict. Look for Arun, but not find him. Linger about in cabin. Leave cruise ship. Board taxi. Arrive at Holiday Inn Express. Admire how clean and nice Barcelona looks compared to Italy. Be awed by their subway system. Be awed by La Sagrada Familia. Take train to Barcelona's version of Via Veneto. Buy new SD card because SD card has run out of space. Walk about Barri Gotic and the Cathedral. Look for Museum. Walk about more looking for a non smoking eating place. Have paella, tapas and a San Mig. Enjoy Jamon Iberico ham immensely. Take train back towards La Pau (isn't that such an awesome name? LA PAU!). Get back to hotel. Watch MTV in German. Shower. Sleep.
Wake up. Get mini tour of Barcelona by taxi driver. Arrive at airport. Run into trouble because there's no proof I'm flying out of the USA. Get problem solved. Board plane 2 hours late. Praise God for more On Demand movies. Watch My Life in Ruins. Vow to go to Athens. Sleep. Watch Star Trek. Read and finish The Cellist of Sarajevo. Watch The Simpsons. Watch Mulan. Arrive in Newark late. Wait ages for baggage to come out. Run from baggage claim to customs. Run from customs to the transit counter. Get told plane is still boarding. Run from transit counter to security. Take of shoes. Run from security in sock clad feet clutching dirty converses. Run on travellators. Feel pain. Arrive out of breath at boarding gate to amazed airline workers. Become last to board plane that has a total of 9 rows. Wait on tarmac for 30 minutes. Get into the air. Arrive in Philadelphia after 20 minutes. Watch as baggage is unloaded... to find ours isn't there. Drive back. Eat instant noodles for dinner. Go to WalMart and buy clothes. Go home. Sleep. Rest. Wait for baggage to come the next day.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The cat is in my room now
Things done/survived over the past few days:-
1) Dealing with idiots ala online transaction cock up;
2) Steering a recreation plane in the air and living to tell the tale;
3) Large social engagement where I knew no one but my family;
4) Bridezilla marathon on TV;
5) Looked at creepy ugly house in the woods.
1) Dealing with idiots ala online transaction cock up;
2) Steering a recreation plane in the air and living to tell the tale;
3) Large social engagement where I knew no one but my family;
4) Bridezilla marathon on TV;
5) Looked at creepy ugly house in the woods.
My foccacia bread was really oily
The past few days here have been rather interesting. Thursday I went to Columbia with my cousin and two of her friends. We took the Subway from Penn Station (during which I was terrified we took the wrong subway and would end up in Harlem by accident) and got to Columbia in one piece. After walking about a while (and damn that is a nice campus) I ended up spending 30 minutes in the campus book store finding/buying the things that Nick asked me to to buy by consulting the shop assistants. They were very friendly and helpful.
After that we walked out along the streets, intending to head to Central Park, but saw a small farmers market lined up against the pavement. We ended up buying some foccacia bread from this damn dodgy looking guy (small denim cut off shorts, tight wife beater top, made me think of tobias funke actually) and some apple cider (which was wonderful). We then headed to Central Park and had lunch in the middle of a field, sitting on some rocks. This location was amusing because we seemed to have found a spot in the middle of a Summer Camp's meeting spot, so after a while we were surrounded by navy blue shirted kids and felt really odd.
Then after eating lunch we ended up walking the length of Central Park (argh!) from West 108th to uh, I have no idea, 7th Avenue? It was quite fun though, and my shoes didn't hurt this time round. They went around looking for Gossip Girl/Enchanted shooting locations while in the park. Finally around 3pm-ish we finished and went to the Time Warner Building. After we exited the building (shooting location for Enchanted) it started to drizzle. We took the subway to Penn Station but when we got out it was raining slightly more heavier. Urgh.
Along the pavements as people rushed about trying to get out of the rain, all the umbrella salesmen came out to make a quick buck ("Youse too beautiful to get wet!" was what one guy said in my direction, I laughed and he protested). Further away from the station were the guys selling the same umbrellas $1 cheaper. But we made a run for Macy's anyway, sans umbrella.
So here we were again, 2nd day in a row riding up the slow wooden escalators of Macys (I wish I knew how old they really were) and running into a Starbucks in every corner on every floor. We were on a quest to find shoes that didn't make Pratt's feet hurt, since the rest of us were fine. In the end we walked away with nothing, and made a mad dash back to the Subway and somehow arrived just in time for boarding for the express train to Trenton.
And then we went home and watched Enchanted, because Pratt and I never saw it before.
After that we walked out along the streets, intending to head to Central Park, but saw a small farmers market lined up against the pavement. We ended up buying some foccacia bread from this damn dodgy looking guy (small denim cut off shorts, tight wife beater top, made me think of tobias funke actually) and some apple cider (which was wonderful). We then headed to Central Park and had lunch in the middle of a field, sitting on some rocks. This location was amusing because we seemed to have found a spot in the middle of a Summer Camp's meeting spot, so after a while we were surrounded by navy blue shirted kids and felt really odd.
Then after eating lunch we ended up walking the length of Central Park (argh!) from West 108th to uh, I have no idea, 7th Avenue? It was quite fun though, and my shoes didn't hurt this time round. They went around looking for Gossip Girl/Enchanted shooting locations while in the park. Finally around 3pm-ish we finished and went to the Time Warner Building. After we exited the building (shooting location for Enchanted) it started to drizzle. We took the subway to Penn Station but when we got out it was raining slightly more heavier. Urgh.
Along the pavements as people rushed about trying to get out of the rain, all the umbrella salesmen came out to make a quick buck ("Youse too beautiful to get wet!" was what one guy said in my direction, I laughed and he protested). Further away from the station were the guys selling the same umbrellas $1 cheaper. But we made a run for Macy's anyway, sans umbrella.
So here we were again, 2nd day in a row riding up the slow wooden escalators of Macys (I wish I knew how old they really were) and running into a Starbucks in every corner on every floor. We were on a quest to find shoes that didn't make Pratt's feet hurt, since the rest of us were fine. In the end we walked away with nothing, and made a mad dash back to the Subway and somehow arrived just in time for boarding for the express train to Trenton.
And then we went home and watched Enchanted, because Pratt and I never saw it before.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
I think I'm allergic to the cat
Today I visited NYC for the first time since more than 10 years ago when I last came to USA (actually not true, I came to the USA again when I was 12 but we were way up North-West in Seattle). My cousin, Katie, the girl staying with us, and I took the train from Princeton up to Penn Station. Overall it was a pretty enjoyable experience and I thought "I wouldn't mind studying here" to myself a few times. Post-grad maybe.
The entire atmosphere of the place reminded me of Osaka, but less crowded and probably 10x more dodgy even with all the maid cafes and hentai stores added in. I liked it. What I didn't like however was that I noticed there were lots of stores, stores in every block in fact, but they were all the same F21s, H&Ms, Zaras, etc. So yeah, there are a lot of shops in NYC but THEY'RE ALL THE SAME. How absurd is that? Lots of Starbucks too.
Anyway we also went to catch the matinee slot of 9 to 5, based on the movie. It was quite amusing and I laughed a lot. The ending bit where the characters narrated what happened to them was quite wtf too, with the unpopular boss who got banished to Bolivia being "captured alive by natives and never seen again". There was also a really cute actor (oho!) called Andy Karl playing the role as Joe, the accountant. I also thought one of the ensemble actors named Paul Castree looked cute in his photo in the Playbill.
On another note, I thinking being around Mong and his movie directing is adversely affecting my ability to be immersed in movies. Nowadays when I see movies (and this happeend during the Musical today too) I kept thinking about filming angles, cut scenes, blue screens and so on so forth. Except today it was more geared towards prop movements and what not. (On yet another note, I was impressed by how the ladies could dance so well today in their high heels and not slip).
Tomorrow it's back to NYC again for a visit to Columbia. It'll be another long day, but hopefully an equally enjoyable one.
The entire atmosphere of the place reminded me of Osaka, but less crowded and probably 10x more dodgy even with all the maid cafes and hentai stores added in. I liked it. What I didn't like however was that I noticed there were lots of stores, stores in every block in fact, but they were all the same F21s, H&Ms, Zaras, etc. So yeah, there are a lot of shops in NYC but THEY'RE ALL THE SAME. How absurd is that? Lots of Starbucks too.
Anyway we also went to catch the matinee slot of 9 to 5, based on the movie. It was quite amusing and I laughed a lot. The ending bit where the characters narrated what happened to them was quite wtf too, with the unpopular boss who got banished to Bolivia being "captured alive by natives and never seen again". There was also a really cute actor (oho!) called Andy Karl playing the role as Joe, the accountant. I also thought one of the ensemble actors named Paul Castree looked cute in his photo in the Playbill.
On another note, I thinking being around Mong and his movie directing is adversely affecting my ability to be immersed in movies. Nowadays when I see movies (and this happeend during the Musical today too) I kept thinking about filming angles, cut scenes, blue screens and so on so forth. Except today it was more geared towards prop movements and what not. (On yet another note, I was impressed by how the ladies could dance so well today in their high heels and not slip).
Tomorrow it's back to NYC again for a visit to Columbia. It'll be another long day, but hopefully an equally enjoyable one.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
I'm sick of F21
I never really understood the principle of mass consumption when I was living in Singapore. However having visited numerous USA malls over the past week and being forced into buying shit I didn't really want (no, not salespeople), I am finally starting to understand why the people of the stars and stripes are such massive consumers with the largest carbon footprint in the world.
1) Farm Produce Subsidies
If I'm not wrong the USA heavily subsidies their farm producers. After all, how can Smith in Iowa compete with Salvadore in Chile? This leads to cheaper produce (naturally), and also leads to the mindset of "oh it's so cheap! It's okay if its wasted." If things cost more, then maybe some people would treasure them more. Though honestly by Singapore standards the fresh produce here is really expensive.
2) Distance of Amenities
A drive to do something such as picking up milk can take up to 15 minutes without red traffic lights. This is in contrast to walking 5 minutes downstairs to buy milk if you stay in a HDB. Cramped housing means amenities tend to be nearer. Suburb living here means if you don't own a car, prepare to get cabin fever. Hence, fuel consumption is very high.
3) Location of Amenities
In order to combat the long distances people have to travel, retailers here have come up with the grand idea of building more stores so that they are nearer to people. This means more stores within X sq miles (since we're going with the American system here). However this makes the consumer market rather small since its still the same number of people as before, but divided. Perhaps maybe about a 1000+ people actually are close enough to use that certain mall, but all 1000 people are not going to be there at the same time. Result? Large air conditioned malls (think Vivocity size too) with enough clothes for 500,000 people (stores need to be stocked right) empty on weekdays serving maybe 50 people. What a massive waste of electricity and cloth for clothes.
And that is probably just the tip of the Iceberg.
In the meantime, while on a weekend trip to Washington D.C. to do the touristy thing, I went to the Smithsonian :D They had a small forensic antropology exhibit with Jamestown artifects and my uncle, aunt and I messed around with real human bones (I felt a bit strange after touching them) trying to solve this CSI case in a workshop. That was really fun. Then the next day we went to the Crime and Punishment museum in Chinatown and I got a huge kick from reading all the exhibits. I even drove a police car into a pole in this computer simulation because I was trying to chase down a suspect -_-
It made me think again about how I love Criminology. But there are post grad degrees for that, thankfully.
1) Farm Produce Subsidies
If I'm not wrong the USA heavily subsidies their farm producers. After all, how can Smith in Iowa compete with Salvadore in Chile? This leads to cheaper produce (naturally), and also leads to the mindset of "oh it's so cheap! It's okay if its wasted." If things cost more, then maybe some people would treasure them more. Though honestly by Singapore standards the fresh produce here is really expensive.
2) Distance of Amenities
A drive to do something such as picking up milk can take up to 15 minutes without red traffic lights. This is in contrast to walking 5 minutes downstairs to buy milk if you stay in a HDB. Cramped housing means amenities tend to be nearer. Suburb living here means if you don't own a car, prepare to get cabin fever. Hence, fuel consumption is very high.
3) Location of Amenities
In order to combat the long distances people have to travel, retailers here have come up with the grand idea of building more stores so that they are nearer to people. This means more stores within X sq miles (since we're going with the American system here). However this makes the consumer market rather small since its still the same number of people as before, but divided. Perhaps maybe about a 1000+ people actually are close enough to use that certain mall, but all 1000 people are not going to be there at the same time. Result? Large air conditioned malls (think Vivocity size too) with enough clothes for 500,000 people (stores need to be stocked right) empty on weekdays serving maybe 50 people. What a massive waste of electricity and cloth for clothes.
And that is probably just the tip of the Iceberg.
In the meantime, while on a weekend trip to Washington D.C. to do the touristy thing, I went to the Smithsonian :D They had a small forensic antropology exhibit with Jamestown artifects and my uncle, aunt and I messed around with real human bones (I felt a bit strange after touching them) trying to solve this CSI case in a workshop. That was really fun. Then the next day we went to the Crime and Punishment museum in Chinatown and I got a huge kick from reading all the exhibits. I even drove a police car into a pole in this computer simulation because I was trying to chase down a suspect -_-
It made me think again about how I love Criminology. But there are post grad degrees for that, thankfully.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Air here is dry too and I have ezcema
Hello all,
I've arrived safely in NJ after more than 24 hours of straight traveling starting on 14th July 2009 at 6:40am on United Airlines. Let's just say I'm far from keen to repeat the experience, I've never been so tired from traveling in my life. The friendliness of strangers was a great comfort to me while flying, that and old Arrested Development episodes which cheered me up a great deal.
Last night I saw Harry Potter with my cousin and her friends. I didn't really like the way they changed the angle of the movie from the novel and messed about with the plot, cutting out large chunks of Tom Riddle's childhood. Booooo ):
In other news, I hope my sanity holds out for the length of this trip, for it appears any intellectual stimulation will come from either the internet or my books. This place is as intellectually stimulating as a frat boy party. Oh dear. Pray I don't implode pls. The ignorance of Americans is truly astounding.
I've arrived safely in NJ after more than 24 hours of straight traveling starting on 14th July 2009 at 6:40am on United Airlines. Let's just say I'm far from keen to repeat the experience, I've never been so tired from traveling in my life. The friendliness of strangers was a great comfort to me while flying, that and old Arrested Development episodes which cheered me up a great deal.
Last night I saw Harry Potter with my cousin and her friends. I didn't really like the way they changed the angle of the movie from the novel and messed about with the plot, cutting out large chunks of Tom Riddle's childhood. Booooo ):
In other news, I hope my sanity holds out for the length of this trip, for it appears any intellectual stimulation will come from either the internet or my books. This place is as intellectually stimulating as a frat boy party. Oh dear. Pray I don't implode pls. The ignorance of Americans is truly astounding.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sesame Biscuits
I feel like I got abducted by aliens today. I was made to sit down in a chair as various implements held me down, and they told me to stare into the light. Talk about disturbing~
And in other news, I just finished reading Special A, yet another pointlessly dodgy shojo manga. I think the reason why I have such dodgy perceptions of perfect romances is that they all occur in school, High school to be specific. That's why according to their standards I'm now an old maid past her prime with no possibility of a perfectly dodgy manga style romance.
And in other news, I just finished reading Special A, yet another pointlessly dodgy shojo manga. I think the reason why I have such dodgy perceptions of perfect romances is that they all occur in school, High school to be specific. That's why according to their standards I'm now an old maid past her prime with no possibility of a perfectly dodgy manga style romance.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
I Close My Eyes and Fly Out of My Mind
The past 2 days have brought to me yet a new range of experience from temp-ing at the shop. Things like:-
1) Learning how to use the cash register/nets machine/credit card machine;
2) How to get locked out of the shop because I can't open the shutters;
3) Jamming up the cash register till it makes a high pitched whine of agony;
4) Learning how to open the shutters properly;
5) Learning how to make the cash register stop whining;
6) How to disguise the face that I've dropped a customer's credit card into the dustbin by accident;
7) Learning that customers always come in at the most inappropriate time of the most inappropriate song;
8) Learning that Snuff by Chuck Palahnuik is damn dodgy, but also really good (finished it in one day there);
9) Learning that old soft rock is really the best most neutral music to play in a shop;
10) Learning that no Yong Tau Foo on earth can compare to Lau Pa Sat's Koh Kee Hakka Yong Tau Foo;
11) Learning that Subway at HV is stingy;
12) Citibank is a real bank. It is not Standard Chartered;
13) Learning that credit cards can be used for Nets too;
14) Learning that the reverse is not true. ATM cards don't work with the credit card machine;
15) Learning that ATM cards really look like credit cards if you're not paying attention;
16) AMEX is a pain in the ass because you need to key in a code on the card;
17) Customers have a tendency to forget and leave their cards behind;
18) The 3rd level female toilet of Holland Avenue Shopping Centre is really really cold for some reason;
19) The ang mohs are either very friendly or very rude. There are no 'average' normal ones;
20) The satsifaction one gets from not giving a mean customer a new piece of item is quite high.
I have also learned that (outside of my working life):-
1) Byatt's Posession is woefully dull and a massive disappointment (t0 me anyway, I bet there are people who read this blog that have enjoyed it). I feel it's an exercise in intellectual wankery that has no appeal whatsoever with terribly dull and unremarkable characters. It is remarkably Victorian without the wit of Austen (no probability of zombies too) or the drama/tragedy of Hardy. The last book I gave up reading was Le Carre's The Naive and Sentimental Lover around 2005/6-ish;
2) The Sims 3 is not like The Sims 2. I am midly upset/disappointed that I cannot be a control freak and control everyone in the town;
3) Shinshi Doumei Cross is really not bad for a manga. At least it kept my mind occupied for the past 3 nights;
4) My hand eye leg coordination is really bad. I just came back from playing Guitar Hero with Steph and JH and I died doing the drums. I did managed to survive something on Medium till 68% ish on the drums though. Ended up leaving it on Beginner so I could slack and enjoy myself;
5) My sleep cycle has gone to crap now, I am getting mild insomnia and waking up tired.
Kay, I think I better sleep now.
1) Learning how to use the cash register/nets machine/credit card machine;
2) How to get locked out of the shop because I can't open the shutters;
3) Jamming up the cash register till it makes a high pitched whine of agony;
4) Learning how to open the shutters properly;
5) Learning how to make the cash register stop whining;
6) How to disguise the face that I've dropped a customer's credit card into the dustbin by accident;
7) Learning that customers always come in at the most inappropriate time of the most inappropriate song;
8) Learning that Snuff by Chuck Palahnuik is damn dodgy, but also really good (finished it in one day there);
9) Learning that old soft rock is really the best most neutral music to play in a shop;
10) Learning that no Yong Tau Foo on earth can compare to Lau Pa Sat's Koh Kee Hakka Yong Tau Foo;
11) Learning that Subway at HV is stingy;
12) Citibank is a real bank. It is not Standard Chartered;
13) Learning that credit cards can be used for Nets too;
14) Learning that the reverse is not true. ATM cards don't work with the credit card machine;
15) Learning that ATM cards really look like credit cards if you're not paying attention;
16) AMEX is a pain in the ass because you need to key in a code on the card;
17) Customers have a tendency to forget and leave their cards behind;
18) The 3rd level female toilet of Holland Avenue Shopping Centre is really really cold for some reason;
19) The ang mohs are either very friendly or very rude. There are no 'average' normal ones;
20) The satsifaction one gets from not giving a mean customer a new piece of item is quite high.
I have also learned that (outside of my working life):-
1) Byatt's Posession is woefully dull and a massive disappointment (t0 me anyway, I bet there are people who read this blog that have enjoyed it). I feel it's an exercise in intellectual wankery that has no appeal whatsoever with terribly dull and unremarkable characters. It is remarkably Victorian without the wit of Austen (no probability of zombies too) or the drama/tragedy of Hardy. The last book I gave up reading was Le Carre's The Naive and Sentimental Lover around 2005/6-ish;
2) The Sims 3 is not like The Sims 2. I am midly upset/disappointed that I cannot be a control freak and control everyone in the town;
3) Shinshi Doumei Cross is really not bad for a manga. At least it kept my mind occupied for the past 3 nights;
4) My hand eye leg coordination is really bad. I just came back from playing Guitar Hero with Steph and JH and I died doing the drums. I did managed to survive something on Medium till 68% ish on the drums though. Ended up leaving it on Beginner so I could slack and enjoy myself;
5) My sleep cycle has gone to crap now, I am getting mild insomnia and waking up tired.
Kay, I think I better sleep now.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Echo & The Bunnymen
I came back home today from Social Night with Zhikai to encounter a smoked out kitchen (well as smoked out as a open air kitchen can be). My first thought when I entered the kitchen was 'eh burnt rice smell, some lucky dog is eating claypot rice!' and 'MMMMMMM CLAYPOT RICE'. Then I realised there were plumes of smoke rising from the stove. Big big plumes.
I went over and discovered a small fire had erupted on the stove, presumably because it had been lit for a long time. Luckily the larger than normal fire went away when I turned off the gas valve. I was then faced with the dilemna of what to do next, because there was also a melted plastic colander on top of the lid covering the wok. I ended up removing the cover with a pair of tongs and removing the pan of glutinous rice inside. The top layer of the rice had turned black. I covered it with a cover to keep out the insects.
I sincerely hope I do not see that rice again for breakfast tomorrow.
I went over and discovered a small fire had erupted on the stove, presumably because it had been lit for a long time. Luckily the larger than normal fire went away when I turned off the gas valve. I was then faced with the dilemna of what to do next, because there was also a melted plastic colander on top of the lid covering the wok. I ended up removing the cover with a pair of tongs and removing the pan of glutinous rice inside. The top layer of the rice had turned black. I covered it with a cover to keep out the insects.
I sincerely hope I do not see that rice again for breakfast tomorrow.
A Forest
So far over this past week selling feminine wares in a little fair in Marina Square (I sense some assonance in that last sentence) I have learned that I am far too honest and nice to be a good salesperson. I have absolutely zero interest in trying to pressure customers into buying something they might regret later, in essence I treat them the same way I'd like to be treated, which really defeats the purpose of sales. There are even times I feel like telling the customers "oh actually xxx has better stuff for this purpose" and I get worried when I see women approach the laptop bags which have no padding at all (I imagine them just dumping their naked laptops inside without any protection). I do however get a kick, a rise in pleasure, for the knowledge at having sold something. We even have little games where we attempt to outsell the earlier shift/try to sell a bag that has proven hard to sell.
There have been a few interesting customers too, like the 2 weird old men who came on the first day and asked a lot of questions. Then there are those people who like to pretend they are very clever and that 'they have never heard of our brand' and 'they used to live in australia/go there often/have an uncle ten times removed in australia and thus are the leading authority on australian brands'. There was also a woman who loved the acessory bag so much but had no money (she was leaving to go back to HK) and ended up giving us her USD10 in addition to the rest of her SGD to buy the bag. There was also another woman who came with her brother and they bought 2 bags from us and he paid for one :D (I almost referred to him as her boyfriend, so good thing I didn't). There were also the weird swarm of foreigners of an Asian origin (for some reason I think they're from the Indochina region) who came to our shop and inexplicaby started posing for pictures with the sign and goods even though they bought nothing. They weren't even teenagers, but middle aged men and women, plus the odd elderly grandma or two.
Anyway one more day of the fair left, then I have 2 full days of working at the shop proper next week and another fair in early July. Let's see if anything else weird happens.
There have been a few interesting customers too, like the 2 weird old men who came on the first day and asked a lot of questions. Then there are those people who like to pretend they are very clever and that 'they have never heard of our brand' and 'they used to live in australia/go there often/have an uncle ten times removed in australia and thus are the leading authority on australian brands'. There was also a woman who loved the acessory bag so much but had no money (she was leaving to go back to HK) and ended up giving us her USD10 in addition to the rest of her SGD to buy the bag. There was also another woman who came with her brother and they bought 2 bags from us and he paid for one :D (I almost referred to him as her boyfriend, so good thing I didn't). There were also the weird swarm of foreigners of an Asian origin (for some reason I think they're from the Indochina region) who came to our shop and inexplicaby started posing for pictures with the sign and goods even though they bought nothing. They weren't even teenagers, but middle aged men and women, plus the odd elderly grandma or two.
Anyway one more day of the fair left, then I have 2 full days of working at the shop proper next week and another fair in early July. Let's see if anything else weird happens.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
2 Jobs in 2 Days
Yesterday I ended my 3 weeks employment with M/s P-. For lunch B- and Andrew brought Rachael and me to 5 Star Chicken Rice in River Valley. Then we went to Laurent's in Robertson Quay for 'tea' where I ordered an Ice Chocolate which turned out to be an epic bad idea (it was like half milk half chocolate. I'm lactose intolerant. Imagine).
I actually felt a bit sad leaving M/s P- yesterday despite the fact that I felt so eager leave just as the week had begun. I felt sad thinking about the good memories that I had, like being complimented on my research skills by Andrew on the 3rd day and the feeling of bashfulness mixed with delight as he went around telling this to everyone. Then later when I brought up a point during a meeting with the client, he went around telling everyone how impressed he and the client was with me. It just felt so good to feel that someone thought highly of me. Then there were the random talk cock sessions with him and Rachael which were really enjoyable too.
I would daresay I'll also miss my direct boss too, Miss S- who was stuck at home on maternity leave most of the time. How she'd sneak back to the office to 'get air con' and surprise me everytime she appeared, and how afraid I was of her, not knowing what she would do next. Pity that she wasn't physically around most of the time for my duration at work though.
So thus with a vaguely heavy heart I left the office, and joined Mrs Nat Lim to sell handbags in Marina Square (please do not come visit me, in fact please stay far away from Marina Square till 21st June). I started work today. It felt a bit like 3 years ago again, talking to Mrs Lim and all. Faint memories of the past also came back to me, but I'm a bit too tired to dwell on them now.
Anyway today was fairly interesting. I seem to attract strange old men (lookinag at handbags?!) who like asking lots of questions. There was also a baby in pram that I played with by imitating her actions while the other clerk was promoting the diaper bag to her parents. She kept laughing when playing with me. Awwww.
Then Mrs Lim's relatives also came along and I played with the 2 kids, Sarah and David. It later transpired that David is Matthew, my younger cousin's friend and classmate. He described Matthew as 'the crazy one'. I laughed. Really cute kids. They accompanied me to get stock from the storeroom which is most masochistically located about 100m+ away. Factor in crowds and going to get stock is a bit of a painful affair. Also for some reason when I started running today my right knee started hurting from the impact with the ground too, so boo ):
Oh and David also started teaching me Chinese. Pri 1 Chinese. I couldn't recognise the words. I epic fail.
I actually felt a bit sad leaving M/s P- yesterday despite the fact that I felt so eager leave just as the week had begun. I felt sad thinking about the good memories that I had, like being complimented on my research skills by Andrew on the 3rd day and the feeling of bashfulness mixed with delight as he went around telling this to everyone. Then later when I brought up a point during a meeting with the client, he went around telling everyone how impressed he and the client was with me. It just felt so good to feel that someone thought highly of me. Then there were the random talk cock sessions with him and Rachael which were really enjoyable too.
I would daresay I'll also miss my direct boss too, Miss S- who was stuck at home on maternity leave most of the time. How she'd sneak back to the office to 'get air con' and surprise me everytime she appeared, and how afraid I was of her, not knowing what she would do next. Pity that she wasn't physically around most of the time for my duration at work though.
So thus with a vaguely heavy heart I left the office, and joined Mrs Nat Lim to sell handbags in Marina Square (please do not come visit me, in fact please stay far away from Marina Square till 21st June). I started work today. It felt a bit like 3 years ago again, talking to Mrs Lim and all. Faint memories of the past also came back to me, but I'm a bit too tired to dwell on them now.
Anyway today was fairly interesting. I seem to attract strange old men (lookinag at handbags?!) who like asking lots of questions. There was also a baby in pram that I played with by imitating her actions while the other clerk was promoting the diaper bag to her parents. She kept laughing when playing with me. Awwww.
Then Mrs Lim's relatives also came along and I played with the 2 kids, Sarah and David. It later transpired that David is Matthew, my younger cousin's friend and classmate. He described Matthew as 'the crazy one'. I laughed. Really cute kids. They accompanied me to get stock from the storeroom which is most masochistically located about 100m+ away. Factor in crowds and going to get stock is a bit of a painful affair. Also for some reason when I started running today my right knee started hurting from the impact with the ground too, so boo ):
Oh and David also started teaching me Chinese. Pri 1 Chinese. I couldn't recognise the words. I epic fail.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)