As the saying goes, "The only thing constant is change". I do think my boss is going to implement some changes in my job scope and allow me greater exposure. Which is good but I guess it's a win-win situation for her because I do more stuff and I can cover others when they are not around. Smart move.
Anyway, as part of the change, I accompanied 2 managers on an agency visit for a forum and I must say it was a great experience. I found that I lacked interaction skills and I was really nervous to see strangers in a conference room, strangers of all nationalities. I really lack PR skills, I need to communicate effectively and be friendly. Not an easy task, considering that I grown moodier and more introverted after I got my desk bound job.
Nonetheless, this represent new changes that I have to implement in myself or rather my life. I want to be less afraid of striking a conversation with my business associates. (I need more interaction, I need to smile more, be more inquisitive of other people, maybe I need to attend Toastmasters' Club, etc). I want to speak well, look and feel confident of myself. (I need better clothes; clothes that look like a million bucks w/o costing a million bucks, I need a good haircut and hair colour, I need better shoes, better makeup, better complexion).
Gosh I have so many things to do! Question is if I will do it. Haha.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Sydney Tour
My most expensive holiday to date – Sydney! I went there end November, hoping to immerse myself in the “ang mohs” land. Well, it was fun but I guess I can never adapt to their culture. There are hardly any good food outlets open at night (nothing like those hawker centres in Singapore) and the train ceases operations from 10pm on weekday nights! Gosh. One difference is probably, Australians take pride in dining, dressing up and really splurging on an evening out with wine in hand. A tad expensive and not my kind of lifestyle, I say.
Anyway, the first day we arrived in Sydney, it was bright and sunny and full of houseflies!! They just kept flying to me and they were a big nuisance, buzzing in my ears and stopping for a moment to enjoy the view of my ears or even heading straight for my eyes! Sickening…
It was pretty cool during evenings though, much so when the wind blew. There were a few times I thought I was going to be blown away while walking against the wind! Yet the breeze was really really nice such that when I came home, I felt Singapore was kind of warm and sweaty. Haha.
Besides visiting Pitt Street (“the Orchard Road of Sydney”), we took photos at the famed Darling Harbour, Opera House, The Rocks, etc. Wanted to try the famous pancakes restaurant at the rocks called “Pancakes at the Rocks” but it was closed till after Christmas. Sad, sad. However, I found another nice place for lunch at the Rocks, aptly called “The Rocks Café”. You can see that these places are not very creatively named but, never mind. Had seafood for lunch and the staff were really friendly, relaxed and nice!
Had a chance to visit the Hunter Valley for numerous wine tastings and I got quite red after awhile and had abit of scare with a rash on my arms. Thank goodness the rash went away after some time. Must be the effect of mixing port, white wine, red wine and dessert wine together!
On the second last day, we headed for Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves. I was quite peeved that we only had very little time on the Blue Mountains to walk about, so we only view the 3 sisters rock formation from afar. I did not have a chance to walk into the nature reserve and go up close and personal straight to the mountain cliffs! Argh. Anyway, on hindsight, I guessed it was better I did not walk there since I was afraid of heights and the Scenic Railway scared me somewhat already.
All in all, bought a lot of chocolates and Arnott’s biscuits back – only to find that NTUC has started selling most flavours of Arnott’s biscuits in Singapore but at 2x the price! Yes, it’s much cheaper in Australia! Well, when I save up enough money I shall go to the beautiful countryside or mountainside of Australia.
PS: I tried to use Flickr to post my photos here but there seems to be a HTML tag error. Arrgh.
Anyway, the first day we arrived in Sydney, it was bright and sunny and full of houseflies!! They just kept flying to me and they were a big nuisance, buzzing in my ears and stopping for a moment to enjoy the view of my ears or even heading straight for my eyes! Sickening…
It was pretty cool during evenings though, much so when the wind blew. There were a few times I thought I was going to be blown away while walking against the wind! Yet the breeze was really really nice such that when I came home, I felt Singapore was kind of warm and sweaty. Haha.
Besides visiting Pitt Street (“the Orchard Road of Sydney”), we took photos at the famed Darling Harbour, Opera House, The Rocks, etc. Wanted to try the famous pancakes restaurant at the rocks called “Pancakes at the Rocks” but it was closed till after Christmas. Sad, sad. However, I found another nice place for lunch at the Rocks, aptly called “The Rocks Café”. You can see that these places are not very creatively named but, never mind. Had seafood for lunch and the staff were really friendly, relaxed and nice!
Had a chance to visit the Hunter Valley for numerous wine tastings and I got quite red after awhile and had abit of scare with a rash on my arms. Thank goodness the rash went away after some time. Must be the effect of mixing port, white wine, red wine and dessert wine together!
On the second last day, we headed for Blue Mountains and Jenolan Caves. I was quite peeved that we only had very little time on the Blue Mountains to walk about, so we only view the 3 sisters rock formation from afar. I did not have a chance to walk into the nature reserve and go up close and personal straight to the mountain cliffs! Argh. Anyway, on hindsight, I guessed it was better I did not walk there since I was afraid of heights and the Scenic Railway scared me somewhat already.
All in all, bought a lot of chocolates and Arnott’s biscuits back – only to find that NTUC has started selling most flavours of Arnott’s biscuits in Singapore but at 2x the price! Yes, it’s much cheaper in Australia! Well, when I save up enough money I shall go to the beautiful countryside or mountainside of Australia.
PS: I tried to use Flickr to post my photos here but there seems to be a HTML tag error. Arrgh.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Tired
I feel tired, out of the blue again.
Tired of relationships, of any kind.
Yet I do need companionship.
Maybe it's because I am a strong and driven person.
Maybe it's because I tend to do things on my own.
Yet I do need support at times.
Tired of relationships, of any kind.
Yet I do need companionship.
Maybe it's because I am a strong and driven person.
Maybe it's because I tend to do things on my own.
Yet I do need support at times.
Maybe it's because I give too much.
Maybe it's because I expect too much.
Maybe there isn't an answer at all...
Friday, December 01, 2006
My 1st Church Wedding of the Year 2006
One of my closer church friends got married in November this year and I was involved in the designing of powerpoint slides and program sheet. It's my first time attending a church wedding and preparing so much for it but it was fun. On the wedding day itself, I was one of the ushers and I could really feel the anticipation of the groom and the bride at the entrance. The bride was smiling so happily all day despite that she was quite a fierce person in everyday life. The church wedding solemnization was hilarious as the bride forgot her vows and the officiating minister had to read out the lines quietly to her but we could hear. Despite this, I felt that the vows are so meaningful and seeing the joy and smiles on the groom and bride was very heartwarming.
I felt really happy for the couple as they have come a long way, with 5 years of dating behind them and lots of ups and downs. The guy was non-Christian when they initially dated and the girl tried to break up several times so as to submit to God's Will but they got back together after awhile each time. There was one final break-up where we all thought it was the end but the guy loved the girl so much, he felt that it was not worth to give up without a fight. So he went to explore Christianity and God, trying to understand what power this sovereign being has over this girl, what He symbolises and whether He is real in people's lives. I am glad to say that he was convinced and by faith, he believed in God but he was unsure if he still should pursue the girl back. Fortunately their mutual friend helped them and the couple was reunited eventually. In his thank-you speech at the wedding dinner, I could tell how much he really believed in God and that their union was the result of God's Will and from now onwards, God will be their life beacon. Really touching.
On hindsight, a wedding involves so much preparation, coordination and cooperation. I faced some setbacks in the designing because the groom wanted something elegant and 3D while the bride wanted something simple and plain. In addition, there were so many changes as I did not know what they wanted and they couldn't really make up their minds. I felt that some of their ideas were quite unpractical EG. reflective paper for the church ceremony program sheet, which was not practical and wasteful. Everyone uses normal paper, photostated, because everyone throws away the sheets after use. Whatever, it's their money and their wedding. However, there were times I wanted to throw in the towel and tell them to discuss among themselves and then tell those who are helping them what they want and what needs to be done. I guess being engineers, the couple is not very good at coordination and liaision work. Haha. Whatever it is, the wedding got on quite well despite some hiccups.
In them, I see that a marriage is about committment to each other, to support, hold and love each other every step of life's journey , knowing that they are no longer separate entities but one body, one union. Marriage is about having the same goals and values to look forward to and work towards as well. And I guess for them, they can look forward to God's promise of eternity in Heaven.
This leads me to wonder, what exactly is marriage to me? How would I know if I am suitable for marriage or someone is suitable for marrying me? Or whatever.
I felt really happy for the couple as they have come a long way, with 5 years of dating behind them and lots of ups and downs. The guy was non-Christian when they initially dated and the girl tried to break up several times so as to submit to God's Will but they got back together after awhile each time. There was one final break-up where we all thought it was the end but the guy loved the girl so much, he felt that it was not worth to give up without a fight. So he went to explore Christianity and God, trying to understand what power this sovereign being has over this girl, what He symbolises and whether He is real in people's lives. I am glad to say that he was convinced and by faith, he believed in God but he was unsure if he still should pursue the girl back. Fortunately their mutual friend helped them and the couple was reunited eventually. In his thank-you speech at the wedding dinner, I could tell how much he really believed in God and that their union was the result of God's Will and from now onwards, God will be their life beacon. Really touching.
On hindsight, a wedding involves so much preparation, coordination and cooperation. I faced some setbacks in the designing because the groom wanted something elegant and 3D while the bride wanted something simple and plain. In addition, there were so many changes as I did not know what they wanted and they couldn't really make up their minds. I felt that some of their ideas were quite unpractical EG. reflective paper for the church ceremony program sheet, which was not practical and wasteful. Everyone uses normal paper, photostated, because everyone throws away the sheets after use. Whatever, it's their money and their wedding. However, there were times I wanted to throw in the towel and tell them to discuss among themselves and then tell those who are helping them what they want and what needs to be done. I guess being engineers, the couple is not very good at coordination and liaision work. Haha. Whatever it is, the wedding got on quite well despite some hiccups.
In them, I see that a marriage is about committment to each other, to support, hold and love each other every step of life's journey , knowing that they are no longer separate entities but one body, one union. Marriage is about having the same goals and values to look forward to and work towards as well. And I guess for them, they can look forward to God's promise of eternity in Heaven.
This leads me to wonder, what exactly is marriage to me? How would I know if I am suitable for marriage or someone is suitable for marrying me? Or whatever.
Someone chatted me up on the MRT!!
Something shocking (or should I say pleasant?) happened to me while I was walking to take the train to work one morning. A 26 year old guy chatted me up with a hilarious intro: "Hi, are you going to work?" I was momentarily stunned as I thought it was quite obvious at 8plus in the morning that I was going to work, dressed in office attire. Anyway I was in a good mood that day as the next day I was due to be on leave so I decided to talk to him despite his funny intro.
Well, he's probably about 1.8m tall but kind of scrawny, went overseas to study and paying off his bond now. Must be quite smart but abit arrogant. It turned out that we were secondary and JC schoolmates but a year apart. Haha. No wonder I found him familiar as I would normally see him on the feeder bus that I take almost every morning. Anyway he must have seen me on the bus and train alot of times already since the beginning of this year. And the reason I noticed him was I felt that he seemed to be staring at me most of the time so much so I felt uncomfortable and strange.
We chatted politely all the way to City Hall station where he worked and he asked for my number (as expected). I decided to give to save him the embarrassment of rejection. Anyway he seems slightly shy and I guess it took alot of courage for him to approach a stranger on the bus!
After he left the train, I couldn't help but laugh to myself that such a thing actually happened to me. Ugly Amy without any make-up on nor was she dressed very trendily and she did not look friendly. Haha... Gosh, what an encounter!
Well, he's probably about 1.8m tall but kind of scrawny, went overseas to study and paying off his bond now. Must be quite smart but abit arrogant. It turned out that we were secondary and JC schoolmates but a year apart. Haha. No wonder I found him familiar as I would normally see him on the feeder bus that I take almost every morning. Anyway he must have seen me on the bus and train alot of times already since the beginning of this year. And the reason I noticed him was I felt that he seemed to be staring at me most of the time so much so I felt uncomfortable and strange.
We chatted politely all the way to City Hall station where he worked and he asked for my number (as expected). I decided to give to save him the embarrassment of rejection. Anyway he seems slightly shy and I guess it took alot of courage for him to approach a stranger on the bus!
After he left the train, I couldn't help but laugh to myself that such a thing actually happened to me. Ugly Amy without any make-up on nor was she dressed very trendily and she did not look friendly. Haha... Gosh, what an encounter!
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