Life as a working adult.

Today is the official start of my working life.



Went to the EXPO today to help the company with the current roadshow, and every time my boss started talking about interior decorating to a client, I can't help but imagine how much more interested I would have been and how much more input I would have been able to give if they were talking about baking. Plus I was given a floor plan to do some space planning and I sucked at it.... that's essentially how my day ended, me being told how bad I was at planning space, she didn't say it literally but that's what it essentially translate to.




Oh, actually my day ended with my thighs smacking full force against as an MRT ez-link Barrier. I've seen people getting squashed by it before, and I have to admit it's actually quite funny, but I didn't expect to become one of it's victims.

MRT ez-link Barrier uses "Guillotine".

I was on my way in after work about to take the train home and decided to use the entrance for wheelchair bound people, because it was nearer to me and I was too lazy to walk that few centimeters further to the normal one, so as I tapped my card, the barrier opened and as I was walking past the barriers, some genius Indian guy decides to tap the card from the other end, because the wheelchair bound entrance works both ways, and the barrier decides to do a quick close and reopen while I was still midway through it. Ended up smacking my leg against the barrier at full force, it was not pretty for me.





Tomrrow is another work day, and the day after and the day after, at least in the army there's like off day 50% of the time, like 2 days work and 2 days off, and even when I'm "working", I can be doing something fun like watching a movie, or an entire TV Series, so far I've watched Vampire Diaries, New Girl, Once Upon a Time, Up All Night, Grimm and probably a lot more, and it's not one by one, I watch them in bulk episodes. Army life really isn't that bad for me... in fact it's actually really good, so good in fact that I fear all my luck has run out dry and I'm probably gonna get a real shitty job... which I can't gauge now because it's just the first day.



I'm not going to be optimistic about the job, because becoming too optimistic always leads to bigger disappointments, so I'm gonna just picture how much worst it can get and start feeling better when it doesn't get as bad as I imagined. My imagination is pretty dramatic.

Haze ~ Nature's Fault since 2013

The haze has finally cleared... I think.



The last few days at home was pretty awesome because the air-con was switched on for most of the day, the haze only limited our field of vision, it did nothing to help with the insanely warm weather.




I actually thought when I went out, with the PSI reading hitting 400, that I would be able to smell smoke, silent screams from the fallen trees in Indonesia crawling into my nose, but there wasn't so much of a smell, then again my area wasn't so badly affected, so that's probably the reason why. It definitely felt weird to be wearing those face mask though, like out of every 5 people probably only 2 people are wearing it, again, my side isn't so badly affected, so maybe who knows, the other areas of Singapore have probably have the ratio reversed.




After much complain from the Singaporeans, the Indonesian "Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare" ,copied that from Wikipedia, released a statement, telling Singapore to "stop acting like a child" and that it's not want the Indonesian wants, but it's nature's fault.  And that they won't accept any financial assistance from Singapore if  we aren't going to be giving them a huge amount. A huge amount means more than a million.

 


Please, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, we are offering help to clear the haze not just for you, but for us as well, it's not only affecting you country. And saying it's nature's fault is the most ridiculous excuse one can find so if I were to throw a banana skin on the floor and someone were to accidentally slip on it, using the Minister's logic, I can blame it on nature, because it's nature's fault for making the banana skin so slippery and not mine for throwing it on the floor.  Good job not taking responsibility, it might not be the Indonesian leaders' order to have the slash and burn but it happened in your country so instead of telling us to "stop acting like a child", at least take some responsibility for it.

Even the Indonesians in Singapore are doing a better job at handling this situation than the minister himself.

Just my two cents, but obviously the Minister ain't gonna care because it's not a million bucks. I'm not bashing the Indonesians because they are suffering more than us, it's that particular Minister that I'm blaming, and it's not even about the haze, it's his lack of tact in speaking.

p/s. I just realise in the link, there's a video in it, a short clip of the news, kinda funny to hear the news anchor quote the minister "stop acting like a child", she sounded pissed off. 

So anyways. I have accepted a job offer yesterday and will officially start tomorrow. When I think about it, it's actually kinda fucked up that this is sort of my first real job that I've taken. The others in the past don't really count because I'm either working for a family member or for my internship, never have any actual work experience before, the army doesn't count obviously, that's more like a sentence than anything else.

More Interview.

Whilst going for my last interview this week, I received yet another call from another company asking me to head down to their company for an interview... it feels nice to actually be wanted by companies, but had to reject the offer. I didn't even catch what the company name was when I rejected the interview... all I knew was that it was "something Design". The woman who called me actually sounded like the at-Sunrice person, gave me false hope... to reject them... alas it wasn't, but a rejection still happened.





Today's interview actually went really well, the boss was really friendly right off the bat and he started selling his company to me like I was a client or something, told me the benefits I will get, how they work and how much their employees can earn in a month, their record I think was 30k, the other company I went to apparently hit the 200k record, I think I heard wrong though because that seems a bit excessive for 1 month. I've actually gotten myself into a commission based job, which I'm definitely worried about because I like stability and commission ain't gonna be giving me any stability anytime soon.





I went into the interview today without the plan of even bothering to consider the job offer because the first place I went to on Tuesday was the one I wanted to get employed into. It's was a nicer work place overall, I mean the office is in a small bungalow, it felt very cozy to work there, whereas the one I went to today is located in like some Industrial area at Ubi and the office is really big, it looks like what it is, a workplace.




 I've worked in a pretty big company during my internship before and I can honestly say, big companies have a pretty shitty work environment, because it's so big, they don't really bother to decorate the place, so the only place that's decorated is the front desk and the place where they meet their client, the actual work area, it's the very definition of what you would imagine a desk bound job to looks like. White color overall with black computers and a lot of files stacked on each other or arranged very messily but probably properly organized on the shelf... it's not a fun place to work in.




But the boss was really good at enticing me to join their company. I only wish his company had more English speaking workers because my Chinese is pretty shit. My Chinese is as crappy as their English.... and that's not saying something because I got a B3 for Chinese during my O-Levels. So I'm not insulting them because karma's a bitch... I mean look at what Sunrice did to me after I talked shit about them in one of my post which I have since deleted. Pay them $100 and all they do is send me an email telling me I've been rejected.




Work environment is more important for me. But still need to consider the fact that the 2nd company will provide a bigger opportunity for me in the future. Decisions Decisions.... bet Sunrice didn't go through this much dilemma when they rejected me and spend my $100 application fee and the $100 application fees of probably every other rejected applicants whose dreams they have destroyed  on brand new kitchen aids for their next batch of successful applicants.

Rejected by a Private School.

So I took heed from the admin clerk of at-sunrice and decided to apply for the earlier intake a few days back, hoping to get an interview.



Yesterday, I received an email from at-Sunrice, and I thought it was an email that was going to ask me to head down to their place for an interview...

We regret to inform you....

That's never a good way to start a message. So I got rejected, and they ask me to consider registering for the next intake.... NEXT INTAKE FOR THE CERTIFICATE. Now I know my $100 have officially been wasted on the bloody school. 

Fuck you very much at-Sunrice.

Guess my baking shall remain a hobby and not a full time job. I actually think I tabooed my application by talking about it so much during my NS, so I shall not talk about the new job I've found as well, lest I also taboo it.

Hi~

Took almost an entire week for me to suddenly get job offers from companies.



Called At-Sunrice today to clarify some stuff as well. And turns out the reason why my application took so long to process was because they were clearing out the July intake people first before moving on to the September intake, which is what I have applied for. I think that's what they are doing because I called to check other stuff and the person told me roughly that's what happen.


Initially I was a bit flustered because I heard my friend actually got into the school already, I applied probably a day earlier if not more, and I haven't even gotten an interview. So called them to double confirm if my application was sent in and if they have received my application fee... both did, and was assured that I had nothing to worry about because it turns out my friend got confused with "accepted" and "applied", the lady on the line was a bit shock because by right it should take them 3 weeks to send out acceptance letters to their student.



 So all that rant, the post that I have retracted from my blog, was awkward because the lady on the line, who happens to be the same lady whom I consistently tried to email multiple times, was the same person. She sounded nice, although the first person I called a few days back was kinda shit at his job.... it's probably his accent, I couldn't really understand what the hell he was saying, if I could ask him to speak with a British accent without sounding racist, I would.




And at the same time, I've managed to get 2 jobs interview, both of which are extremely different from one another, one was for a job I applied for a week ago when I just applied for Culinary School, and that's as a part time baker, and the other I applied today, out of sheer spite because I thought my acceptance into Culinary School is screwed, which is for an Interior Design firm.



Now I have to wait for the school to respond so I can know which one to reject. Not having any income feels terrible, after having a steady stream of cash coming into my bank every month for the last 2 years, steady but it's like a trickling stream, not a lot but enough for a stay at home couch potato, and then suddenly not having any is weird. I feel so poor I actually have to control my spending even more.




That's another reason why I purchased a Nokia Lumia 920 instead of a HTC One. Managed to sell my Army Phone away on Hardware Zone. The joys of actually bothering to meet a buyer, had to create a new account because my old one is probably not very trustworthy, I backed out of a few deals I made, well I told them I have another buyer but the truth is I was feeling a bit like a hoarder back then.




Sold both iPhone and Huawei for a Nokia phone. Who trades iOS and Android OS for a Windows OS? Cheapskates like myself. There's no instagram on Windows so that's a bit sad, but the interface for the phone is really sleek.Very Minimalist. I like minimalist designs but I hate when design students use that word to describe their design style because it just sounds like an excuse for them to be lazy... and it's so bloody overused, even I'm guilty of it.... that's why my results are so shit. That's what happens to hypocrites.



One thing I noticed about the 2 stores that I went to to get my phone is that the store assistants there all look like they are having the most boring day of their life, or like they are high because their face are always having a -_- expression, all they need is a shisha and a beanie and they are hippified.




Pretty mediocre customer service but their prices are really good. It's shit though because their shop used to have the most helpful customer service I've ever seen... or the one I patronize. They use to recommend other  phones to me if the one I'm wanting is out of stock and they were very friendly, now it's just a lot of -_- and they aren't really helpful at all. Actually I can't really blame them for the latter because I was literally standing at their store front staring at their phone boxes without moving, one thing people have to understand is phone designs are now all pretty shit because they all look the same, so I wasn't exactly spoilt for choice that I had to stand like an AFK character in front of their store, it's more of a lack of choice, I had to choose the best of the worst.



Sure phones are now filled with more features and what not, but I'm pretty shallow and all the really care about is the design of the phone... until I get home and start using the phone will I start regretting my decision. It happened with the Lumia, but now I've gotten over it.




It's cheaper than the one I was aiming for by $200... the one that I wanted both stores didn't sell. That was a pity because the HTC Butterfly would have been an awesome phone. Actually a store did sell but I wasn't so sure about it's reputation.



Well hopefully the rumors are true and Windows will get an Instagram app later this month. But more importantly, hopefully I can get an Interview for at-Sunrice soon, otherwise that rant is gonna go back up again. It's currently reverted back to draft format so it still exist... like my Chastity.

ORD Loh~!

So I've finally ORD-ed.


The feeling isn't as amazing as I thought it would be. In fact a few days before my official ORD, I felt a little sentimental whenever I booked in because I know those were the last time I would book in and see whatever I would see that I can't blog about here because I've signed a clearance form not to reveal anything related to the army online.

I've been in the airbase for one and a half years, and I've been sleeping in the same bunk with a majority of them for one and a half years. Within that time frame, I've actually managed to become friends with every single one of them, usually when I see people that I know, I will avoid eye contact because it's awkward when you see each other and have nothing to say, maintaining eye contact is only something I can only do to people that I'm close to or feel comfortable around... and I am able to do that with all my bunk mates, which is saying something because awkwardness radiates from my skin.


I will miss my bunk mates, that's for sure and some of my shift mates. Chit chatting when we have nothing to do in bunk, which happens to be 70% of the time about random things from food to technology to gossips in the shift, which is a lot... for guys we definitely gossip a lot... and I thought I was a bitch.


ORD to many is a good thing because it means they can finally continue with their life. Not for me....


I was rejected by both Universities that I tried to apply for. Can't find any job because no one wants a part timer who can only commit for 3 months, 3 months because I just applied for Culinary School and am awaiting for a call, hopefully to get interviewed and then be accepted... which if am successful will commence in 3 months time.


I'm essentially a headless chicken for the next few months until I can get a confirmation from the school....


It's a little worrying for me because their administration there feels a little inadequate. Emailed the Recruitment Officer a shit load of questions and she only responds to some of them, called to asked about the application and had to be transferred so many times, and when I finally got someone to pick up, that person sounded so disinterested like he couldn't be bothered with helping.


The worst of all is now my eczema on my hand has returned. How the hell am I suppose to handle mixing of ingredients when my finger tip keeps shedding skin and bleeding. Hopefully the steroid cream will work and keep the eczema under control because it wasn't a problem for almost the past 2 years.


It was a bitch at the beginning of my NS but then it subsided and I thought it completely healed.... I think it has something to do with my gaming habit. Before enlistment I would spend hours playing Aion and my eczema started showing signs then, didn't game so much during NS and it subsided, and now after I've started playing Guild Wars 2 more, it comes back. Little Fucker.




Oh and I've sold my iPhone 4S today. First time selling it to another person directly instead of trading in. It shall be missed, all the amazing instagram pictures it took for me.

Made Lemon Meringue Pie. First time and it was a success.... well sort of, the lemon curd was a bit runny but it tasted amazing.

Chocolate Macaron Shells Pre-Baked with Grated Coconuts. If you know your shell is going to come out looking like crap, covering them up with coconut shavings or coco powder can mask them up. It's like make up but for macarons, but without Sephora.

Macarons. I think I've finally nailed down the technique, but my oven is shit, hot spots everywhere making some of my Macaron grow obnoxiously large feet.

LegoLand was shit boring. The original plan was to go to USS, so excuse my bitterness.

Did some random sketches at home during my MC. Extracted my wisdom tooth and I would recommend everyone to go for General Anesthesia. Why stay awake during a surgery when you can drift off to lalaland and wake up all groggy.

Oh and lesson learnt is to never lend my drawing pen to other people...ever. I loan my pen to someone in camp and they manage to tap the pen's drawing  felt tip all the way inside it's metal casing. So I couldn't use it anymore. Destroyed it completely. Sad day.

Took a lot more pictures during my absence. 

My iPhone also got me into quite a bit of trouble in camp, but luckily I wasn't punished severely.

Now I'm on the quest to get a new phone, but instead of being spoilt for choice, I'm lacking choices because they are all so bloody expensive, either that or they are shitty versions of a superior model. Like Samsung Galaxy S4 mini or whatever Samsung wants to add at the back to let you know that your phone is lousier than their flagship S4.  But I shall leave the decision making for another day, important thing is someone bought my iPhone. 

More important thing is my Culinary School Interview. I've never wanted to get into a school so badly. Application Fee itself cost $100... that's fucking steep considering I only paid like $10 and $40 for the University Application I think. One week is how long it takes for them to call shortlisted candidates. Fingers Crossed.

Oh and while I was out today, I saw the advertisement for the school on the train.... and the end of the advertisement it writes..... "it's not for everyone." This is the first time I've seen a school advertising the way they advertise.