Remedial Training Again

Had my second RT session on Sunday and this time, I knew what color band I wanted, even went a bit early so it wouldn't go "out of stock", it didn't go out of stock and I was too early. turns out reporting "at least 15 minutes early" for an ICT in the order isn't so much an order, just a suggestion.



When I reached the camp, the earlier session had just finished and the last few guys from that session were just making their way out, most looking relatively dry but some looked like they would stink if enough time were given for their sweat to dry, an assumption I reached when I saw that their t-shirt collars were a shade darker than the rest of their clothes.




I wasn't the frist to reach the camp, there were a few other guys just sitting around, but luckily for me, the moment I reached was the moment the counter opened up for registration, so I just joined the queue, had my temperature taken and registered myself, this time knowing what color tag I wanted.




Got my red tag, placed my bag in the lockers, made sure to remember the locker number and set my passcode. I actually took the same locker as I did the last time I went for my RT, my bag probably felt right at home, snuggled up in that same locker it was stuck in 5 days prior.





Waited at the waiting area for about 5 to 10 minutes and my colour tag was called. I was actually quite shock when I realized there were only 5 of us who took the red colour tag, I thought it would be a popular choice but apparently, people were more interested in training up their static stations than in their running. So the five of us followed the instructor into the 2.4km station and we waited as more started coming in, I think by the time we hit around 10 people, the instructor was more than ready to begin and we started doing our warm-ups.



When we completed our warm-up, people were still coming in, so much for me coming early to get a red tag, and I'm sure those guys who came in after the warm up didn't "report at least 15 minutes earlier", they probably reported 15 minutes later.



We did a total of 4 rounds of 400 m in the first part of the exercise, which was surprisingly not too physically demanding for me, the usual blacking out did not happen, it always happens when I start running after taking a very long hiatus from running, and I wasn't catching my breath dramatically when I completed the first 1.6 km, it was exhausting for sure, but I was still able to maintain my expression and not look like I'm hyperventilating.




And then we were asked to run another 3 rounds, or so I thought. I started off at a comfortable pace for the second part of the run, making sure to maintain my speed during the first round so I would have enough energy for the second round and then just burst for the final round. As I was completing my first round, I realize those who were running in front of me exiting off the running track after the first run,which was extremely confusing. Turns out we only had to do 1 round, take a 5 minute break, and then do the 2nd round, followed by another 5 minute break before we do the final round.



I started at the back of the group for the 2nd round and was told by the instructor to...

"Use your long legs to run."

So I double-checked with him if we only had to run a single round, and when he gave me a nod, I sprint the remaining distance. It was very satisfying to overtake almost everyone, but at that same time, I felt like an asshole who's trying to show off , which was horrible, and I really had nothing to show off for because by the time we had to do the final round, I was all out of energy and was back to my normal running speed, the instructor from earlier told me to give it my all and I gave it my all.... during my second round. It's so stupid, I should have sprinted at the last round instead of showing off at the wrong timing, what an idiot.



When we were done with the running portion, there was an upper body strength training, it was very similar to my first RT experience, without the medicine ball and kettlebell weights, but with the added exhaustion from the combined 2.4km run. Push Ups and Crunches were done in an attempt by the training instructor to give us a well rounded body exercise, which was very different from the last instructor who just wanted everything to be done quickly and efficiently.



Compared to the run, the upper body strength training was relatively simple and after 10 minutes of repeated push ups and crunches, we did our cool down and went our desperate ways. I made sure to take a quick shower before leaving because I was drenched in sweat, it's been a while since I've gotten so sweaty so it was a nice feeling.



When I left the camp and was walking towards the bus stop, I actually saw my bus arriving at the stop and normally, if I am walking towards the bus and facing the bus driver, I would make a run for it, if the driver isn't an asshole, he would wait for me, but I was so exhausted from the running I just didn't feel like running after it, even though it was probably just 20 to 30 meters in front of me.




It's ridiculous how lazy I was at that time because the next bus would only arrive in 18 minutes. I did not wait 18 whole minutes for the next bus and took another one instead, only to realize it turns the wrong way 3 stops later. What would have been a quick 15 to 20 minutes ride home had I just decided to make a run for the first bus ended up taking me close to an hour.




As of right now, my legs are still sore, in a good way, my stomach is sore, in a good way as well, except when I have to sneeze, that's when it hurts, and I am going to take that soreness as a valid reason to let my muscles recuperate and take my next RT session next Sunday instead of booking one of the weekdays slot.



I'm just actually enjoying my remedial training oddly enough because it gives me a valid reason to actually go and exercise, not that I would be okay with squeezing in 20 sessions within the next 3 months before my window closes, but it feels good to not be living life like a complete couch potato.

Job Interview and Remedial Training

Had a job interview today at Samsung and that was quite an experience. Not to say it was bad like my last few job interview experiences, thus me working at my Dad, but it wasn't very good.



I arrived at the Samsung business building on time but reached the office a little late because of some wrong turns and a very disinterested security guard who was taking forever to verify every visitor's pass. If I could describe his movements, it would be akin to that of a sloth, really really slow, no sense of urgency, he looked like he couldn't be fuck about anything, but he wasn't rude, which was an odd combination with the perpetual look of depression on his face he seemed to be born with.



I was about 5 minutes late when I finally reached the correct Samsung office, because there are multiple offices belonging to Samsung scattered throughout the building, it's all very confusing, and was greeted by my recruiter, who talked me though very briefly what I questions I should expect and what questions I should ask as he leads me to the meeting room and leaves me there.



And left me there he did, I was waiting in the meeting room for quite a while, an hour to be precise, he would call and check up on me every now and then to apologize on behalf of the interviewer who was stuck in a meeting and try to keep me updated about the situation.



Finally the interviewer arrives and by the time he came in and introduced himself to me, panting from running to the meeting room and apologizing for being so late, all the nerves I had an hour ago had already dissipated and was replace by this growling from my stomach, which was extremely awkward.



I did a quick introduction of myself and showed him my meager portfolio, it wasn't very impressive because most of my works were in my laptop, which I had brought along but was too lazy to take out and put on display for him to see. After an hour of wait, I just really didn't feel like doing anything, not out of annoyance but just from sheer laziness, not that it really mattered because he still went ahead and ask me legitimate "do you want the job" questions to gauge how interested I was in the position.



He went on to describe the position to me, what the responsibilities are and what kind of work environment Samsung would be like. I have to admit, after learning what the job really is about, I was very underwhelmed, it was a very specific job scope that focuses on a single range of product, the flat screen display sets.


To liaise with clients and come up with space planning ideas on where to install the flat screen displays in their existing offices or shops or where ever they needed the display sets to be, that's it. There's no actual space planning of where the furniture should be placed, what colors should the walls be, the flow of the space, none of that, just where is the best place to install the flat screen displays in a commercial space, that's it.



But to offset that underwhelming job scope, there's an overwhelming sense of responsibility that comes with it. Turns out in Samsung, there's only one such position, that means all related projects will be handled by that one designer, there won't be a second designer to balance out the workload should ION Orchard decide they want to install 400 flat screen display sets all across the shopping mall and Takashimaya decide they want to hang 500 flat screen display sets on the ceiling at the same time. One designer handling all the projects sounds a bit much, it just reminds me of the days working in the restaurant where I quickly overwhelmed by orders because I was the only pastry cook or back at the bakery when I had to handle all the baking on my own.




When I realized what I was about to get myself into, I became really unsure of the position. I was very happy when Samsung suddenly sent me an email out of the blue asking me to head down to their office for a job interview, and even now I think that working in Samsung would be a great opportunity, but the main thing I am worried about is the job scope and the scale of responsibility.



Before the interview ended, I was asked by the interviewer if I was willing to learn, to which I replied I was, but when asked if I was interested in the position, I actually told him I had to think about it first because it was not at all what I had expected it to be. I relayed the exact same message to the recruiter after the interviewer completed the interview and I think I have basically just kick myself off their list of potential candidate. I'm sure I'm just one of the many dozen other candidates they invited for the interview and I'm probably the only one who had to "think about it", so unless Samsung likes their interviewees to play hard to get, I'm pretty sure I won't be invited for a second round interview with their hiring director, although that would be a pleasant surprise.



There were moments of awkward silences in between the interview that I quickly filled with redundant questions lest my stomach started to growl,that was both embarrassing and stressful at the same time.

Decided to take-away French Onion Soup from Soup Spoon and this weird Chinese Rice Dumpling thing for lunch at the nearby shopping mall and made my way home thereafter via the bus with the shorter route, it was so much faster.

------------------

Another thing I did today was going for my first Remedial Training.


Decided since I had an interview in the morning, I might as well take a day off from work and try and clear up this burden as quickly as I could.


There isn't really much information online about how RTs are planned or what actually happens during RT, I've gone for RTs in the past during my BMT days, but I'm an ICT now and I was pretty sure the system would be very different now, especially so with the new revised stations, and since I couldn't get any info about it online,  I had to find it out first hand.



Turns out the way RT is organised quite similar to IPT, another type training ICTs can go for should they opt not to take their IPPT because take also fail. IPT is similar to RT except one only has to go for 10 sessions to clear their window for the year rather than 20 sessions of RT. I was too lazy during my IPPT window to do that, so now I have to pay the consequences with 20 RTs.



I reached the camp pretty much on time, got through security check and went straight to join the queue to register myself, I have gone to Maju for my IPPT many months back with a friend before, I was the weaker species and he managed to pass his, that's why I'm going through this ordeal alone, but I roughly knew how the registration would go and where I had to go, what I didn't know though was how the RT sessions was going to work.



When it was my turn to register, I passed the counter person my NRIC, he proceeds to scan it into the system and then ask me....

"Which colour tag?"

Being my first time going through this brand new ICT RT, I didn't really understood what he was asking, and he doesn't even bother to explain to me what he meant, so he just passes me a tag from color that still had the most available and send me on my way.

Before heading out to the area where everyone was waiting, I went to put my bag in the locker, found an opened one and stash all my items in, my wallet, my phone and my bag, set the combination and walked out to wait with everyone else.

After a few minutes of just standing around, I realized I don't actually know what my locker number was, I was such a fucking idiot because I was so busy trying to get the combination right I completely ignored the locker number. I quickly went back to the locker and kinda just stared at the wall of lockers, hoping one of them will click with me, I knew it was in one of the lockers that was at my eye level, but I didn't know which one it was exactly, so I just randomly went up to one and dialed in my combination and lo and behold, I managed to find my locker on the first try, upon finding my locker, I proceeded to closed the locker again and made sure to remember the locker number before heading back out to the waiting area.

I had thought the tags were to categorize us by age because the counter guy had just nonchalantly passed me my tag after looking at my IC, but that wasn't the case because guys who looked my age weren't ALL carrying the same coloured tags as me and older looking guys who were definitely not my age were wearing the same coloured tags as I was.

One by one, the instructors starting calling out the coloured tags and one by one, the waiting area started to clear up. Finally my colour tag was called and we were instructed to head to the equipment room to take a medicine ball and a kettle bell weight.

As I exited the equipemnt shed, I noticed, glued to the the window of the registration counter I was at earlier is a piece of paper with 5 horizontal bars of different colors printed on it, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and Orange. Upon closer inspection, I quickly realized it was the different training option that were available for us to choose, and the colour tag I had been given was the training type I was avoiding.

I had read about the new IPT system on the internet and I knew of the different training that were being offered for IPT takers, I just didn't know at that time that RT would be the same, but what I knew was that out of all the different training they offered, the one that I definitely didn't want to be in was the metabolic training because I wanted to train on my running, not on my strength and endurance, I don't need those, I'm not a tank trying to absorb hits for my team mates in an MMO, I'm just a NSMen who wants to clear his IPPT so he doesn't have to go for 20 sessions of RT.



The colours of the tags and their respective training are as follow...

Red - Running (What I wanted and needed)

Blue - Power and Endurance Training (What I didn't want and need at all)

Yellow - Push Up and Sit Ups (Not necessary for me)

Green - Weight Loss (I don't think RT has this option but IPT has and I don't have any weight that needs losing)

Orange - Sports Games (I don't play sports and I don't intend to start anytime soon)

Out of all the tags I could have been given, the guy manages to pass me the one I wanted the least, the blue one.

When I realize what I had just sign myself up for, or what the guy had signed me up for, it was just an immediate rush of sianess.

Before we actually started, the instructor actually told us that the blue tag was the least popular out of all the other tags, and when asked who were the first timers, more than 50% of us raised up our hands because more than 50% of us weren't really aware we had any choice in the matter.

We had to grab a medicine ball and a kettlebell from the equipment room and those items were going to be a part of our tools to help us in the circuit training called "The 300", and all the exercises related to "The 300" were written on the whiteboard by the training instructor.

A total of 10 different exercises ranging from push ups to swinging the kettle bells to bouncing the medicine ball really hard against the floor.

When I first saw "The 300", I thought we had to do each exercise 300 times.  300 push ups, 300 jumping jack with medicine balls, 300 ways to make sure I lose focus, swing the kettle bell between my legs and crush my own testicles in the process. Luckily, that was not the case and we only had to do each exercise 30 times, 

30 reps x 10 exercise = 300

30 push ups was easy, everything else after that was torture. I'm so fucking weak I didn't even manage to complete everything, I just skipped ahead after the first 4 because I actually lost track of all the type of exercise I had to do, the whiteboard with all the exercise written on it was at the far end corner of the training shed and not within my view able distance, so I tried my best to do as much as I could, but after a while, I just couldn't anymore, skipped right to the last exercise, not bothering to do all 30 reps and then just sat down and waited for everyone else to be done. 

By the time I had cooled down and my heart rate was starting to normalise, the session was over. It actually went by relatively quickly. The instructor wanted to get the whole thing over as soon as possible, and he succeeded. 

It really wasn't as bad as I thought, it's nice to have a good sweat once in a while because the only sweats I've been getting later and the ones that really bring out my body odor.  Even though I wasn't really doing much with my leg muscles for that session, for some reason, those muscles are the ones that are getting sore.


I will be having another session on Sunday, this time in the morning and this time, I will know exactly which colour tag to take. My legs are probably going to get extremely sore after that session though.


One session down, 7 more to go and hopefully I can pass the first RT-IPPT so I can finally clear this window and move on the my next one.

The Martian Novel (or Science Textbook)

Having read finish my last ebook, Library of Souls, on the kindle, I went on a search to look for new reads, this time deciding to read novels written by writers who aren't Stephen King or Ransom Riggs.


Did a bit of research and  finally made my purchase.

It sounded like a good book, received raved reviews online, even my sister said she enjoyed it so much she couldn't put the book down, plus, there is now a movie adaptation and I'm a sucker for novels with movie adaptation, but not vice versa because those novels I assume ends up being shit.



Before purchasing any book on my kindle, I always make it a habit read the sample copy before making my decision,


1. To check whether or not it is too complex for me vocabulary wise, because there are authors who enjoy using big words which in turn makes it unenjoyable for me.


2. Does the story make sense, will I be able to get into the story, is the writing any good, does it go into explicit detail of how every single thing looked. I'm alright if the author is trying to describe a character, but when they start talking about the interior finishing of a house or of a town, that's when my mind just switches off because I don't care if the floor is a "smokey oak color that glistens into a light brown ash color under the sunlight" or that the houses that line the streets are "grey and uneven with peeling wall paint and a torn roof", I don't care, just get on with the main story and stop helping me paint a mental image of the environment that I will probably forget 5 pages later.


So I read the first chapter of the ebook sample and there weren't any red flags, the writer wasn't using any over complicated words, there's really not much in depth description of what's everything around him looks like, because he's stuck on Mars, there's really nothing much to describe about the surrounding except that it's a barren land.



But as I started getting further and further into the book, I realized I was tuning out a lot, I couldn't really concentrate on what was actually happening in the story, this happens a lot when the story gets overly descriptive about the appearance of something and my brain just stops trying to paint a mental picture because it just becomes so exhausting, but that wasn't what was happening here, so when that happens, I will re-read the page again to see what I missed out, and that was when I realized why I was tuning out so much, it was because the writer was talking about science, and not in a "Bill Nye the Science Guy" kind of way that's actually fun and interesting,  I felt like I was reading a fucking chemistry textbook, except this one doesn't have any pictures or color to make the boring bearable.




The book is written in a Journal format, so every chapter consist of a few days worth of dairy entry, in which the main character will talk about what problems he faced that day, and come up with ways to tackle the issue, with science. Stuff like taking the Hydrazine from somewhere and mixing with it the Oxygen he gets from separating the Carbon from the Carbon Dioxide he exhales by using the oxygenator, all so he could create water for his plants, because he needed to plant a set number of plants to get enough proteins to last for 4 years on the planet before the next group of astronauts arrive, and the writer made sure to calculate every single fucking number, because as if science isn't boring in school, let's throw in some math as well,  and this goes on and on and on and on and my gawd after a while I just had to close my kindle to rest my brain from all the numbers and chemical element calculation,  and then get back into the story again, only to be slapped with more science and math and it didn't really pick up much from there.



After barely making it into chapter 4 and realize this was going to be all about the science and maths, I went on to Amazon and requested for a refund because I just couldn't take it anymore, what a fucking waste of time, and I read reviews of people online saying it's the "best book they've ever read because it's so scientifically accurate", WHAT? Since when was reading a Chemistry Textbook fun?



Before I deleted the book from my kindle, I actually went online to read up to see if the story actually picks up and gets more interesting, it apparently doesn't, so no point wasting time trying to complete reading the entire book when I couldn't even get through the first 3 to 4 chapters without tuning out and getting frustrated about not knowing what's actually happening afterwards, not that it really matters because I just get bombarded with more science and math afterwards.



I will probably use that refund to get another Stephen King novel. Also left a review on the Amazon website to show my disdain for the book and I got a thumbs down from a random stranger for it, I really didn't say anything too harsh about the book, just truths about why I think the book sucks, valid opinions from one dissatisfied reader to the Amazon Kindle Community.

So right back at you anonymous thumbs downer, because this is the internet, a place where opinions that don't agree with mine are stupid and redundant.

Kindle and Cakes

Some updates on life.

Recently got myself a Kindle Paperwhite from Qoo10 and it has been a great buy, got back into reading thanks to it.

Got it from this Qoo10 Seller called Best Value Asia, and I got my items in perfect condition, except for the screen protector that they missed out. I wrote them a private message alerting them that the screen protector I had ordered and paid for was missing, that was more than a month ago and they still have yet to reply to my message. I don't really care about the screen protector that much because it's only $1.50, what I'm irritated with is the fact that they don't seem to bother replying to customers queries after they have made final payment to them. I decided to just process the payment to them because I got my kindle and was very happy, that was a mistake which I will never make again. But oh well, can't do anything about it now, I'm sure it was an honest mistake, but at least reply to your customers, my gawd, it's like my at-sunrice experience all over again.

Here are some books I've read so far thanks to the Kindle...

1. Hollow City ( A sequel to a book I was very excited to read when I was in the army) 

2. Twisted (It's like watching a forgettable movie, but the ebook was only like $2 or $3, so I decided to get it, it was alright, but it had a forgettable storyline.)

3. The Shining (Supposed to be the scariest horror novel written by Stephen King, my pants weren't soiled though so it really wasn't that scary to me, but it was a nice read, albeit a bit confusing at some points because of the writing style that I wasn't used to.)

4. Doctor Sleep (Sequel to The Shining, this book was published in 2013 and The Shining was published back in 1977. One can only imagine how exciting it must have been for fans of the Shining who read the book back in the 70s, good book as well but I wouldn't call it horror, more like supernatural suspense. Enjoyable read overall.) 

Currently reading...

5. Library of Souls. (Sequel to Hollow City and the final book in the Miss Peregrine's trilogy) 

An Oreo cake I made a few months back. I am not a fan of this flavor. I think because I'm starting to get old, flavours like cookies and cream or chocolate don't really excite me anymore, now I'm all for carrot cakes or toasted almond loafs, boring old people flavor that children shy away from. 

"No chocolate ? Get that abomination away from me!"

Would be what I would imagine a kid with an advanced level of vocabulary would say to an adult if they offered the five year old a carrot cake.

Moving on to cakes made by professional bakeries, Lady M recently opened an outlet in Westgate , finally a shop in the West, and these are the cakes I got from my second visit there...

Marron Crepe or Chestnut Crepe ($9.00 I think)

Good but not as awesome as their Red Velvet Cake, which are sadly not being made available for the next millennium. Their next red velvet will only be available at all outlets in the month of June to August next year. Urggh! 

Banana Mille Feuille ($8.50 I think)

The banana got super brown and mushy by the time I got to it, and this one didn't feel like it was worth the $8.50 because the entire cake was falling apart, I was scrapping this off the cake box to make sure I wasn't letting any go to waste and it was a pathetic sight.

The only outlet that sells the red velvet all year round is the one at One Fullerton and if I do pass by the place, I will definitely pop by and buy maybe 2 slices home to make the trip worth it, for now, I will just settle for their other offerings, as unimpressive as they are compared to their red velvet, when I have a craving for good quality cakes.

Speaking of cakes, I recently went down to Grandstand with my siblings and was contemplating to get a slice of cake from this Russian Cake shop that sells really delicious and moist cake slices, I've gotten a slice before and at that time, it was priced at around $12 a slice, which was quite expensive for a slice considering how they were originally priced at $8 in the beginning when they first started business, which got hiked up to $10 and then $12, why? I have no idea.



So as I was walking through Pasarbella, I walked past that particular cake shop, took a quick glance and spotted the new prices for the cakes, I was already expecting a price increase, so being completely right did not really surprise me.



Since the last time I visited their shop, they have increased the prices of their cake slices by $3, this time, bringing it to a total of $15. That's almost double the price from when they started, for a single slice of cake, that huge increase in price alone was enough to help me make my decision.

It just doesn't make sense that the boss has to constantly raise the prices of her cakes, what's different every few months, what tweaks did she do the recipe to justify the constant $2 to $3 increase in price every 3 to 6 months, is there more and more gold being sifted into the cake flour? Has she finally decided to use good quality chocolate shavings for the garnish, or did she just decide to charge her customers more money simply because she can. Maybe the monthly rental cost has increased, but whatever the reason, knowing that the cake prices is now twice as expensive as it was back then in the beginning when her business first started has completely made me lost any interest I ever had in the shop, even if the cakes are still moist and delicious. 

Haze 2.0

The haze has been getting pretty bad this past few weeks, in fact, this is the first time I've actually gotten sick because of the haze. Was having a dry cough for 2 whole weeks, just continuously coughing non-stop.



The last time the haze was this bad was 2 years ago, right after I ORD from the army, it was bad but I never really got sick. I also remember that was when Indonesia officials started to chastise Singaporeans, calling us childish for complaining so much about the haze, that is wasn't their fault the wind decided to blow the smoke from their country over to our side.


You'd think they would have gotten a bit wiser but no, this time their Vice President decided to share his opinion on the matter of the haze, twice, and not about the haze issue but the negative reaction they've been getting because of it.



The first time in March when he essentially called us ungrateful for complaining about the haze, that we should be grateful for 11 months of clear skies and thank them for it.

Where in his head did he come up with that logic? What the fuck are you talking about?


It just amazes me that someone of his level of intelligence can actually become a Vice President of a country because not so recently, he came up with another statement, this time having this to say to Singapore...

"Singapore, please come if you want to help. Don't just talk," 

Right after Singapore offered it's help but was turned down by The Forestry and Environment Minister, whose reply was as such....

“They offered help, but I told them we’re still trying to handle it ourselves,” 

Not only unapologetic about the haze, but extremely ungrateful about the help that was offered but rejected by one of his ministers, that he apparently was not aware of. And the way he ask us to help is so infuriating, it's like the help we are offering them is some kind of huge favor they are allowing us to us do, it's as if he expects us to go up to his feet, kiss it and say...

"Oh great and wise vice president, we are eternally grateful for you allowing us this amazing opportunity to enter your haze infested country and help clear the haze for you so everyone in SEA affected by the haze can breath normally and not have to wear a face mask or cough every 20 seconds, even though the fault lies completely in your country and we are just the innocent bystanders who got affected by it because we have the unfortunate fate of being being so close to you guys."

That's like a a pest control company going up to a house that has been infested with rats and thanking the owners for allowing them the privilege of cleaning out the house for them for free.

Or walking up to your neighbors house and thanking the sick child, who's been spreading his life threatening disease around the neighborhood, for the last 5 good years your child was able to get growing up before patient zero decided to spread his life threatening disease around and infecting your kid, leaving him with only a month to live.

It doesn't make sense because you don't get to claim credit for something you are not responsible for, like the clear air we had the past 11 months, if anyone should be thanked for that clean air, it should be mother nature for deciding not to shoot down lightning bolts to strike the forest and cause it to catch fire, if we are following the VP's flawed logic that is.

Food

Met up with some friends a few days back for some Korean BBQ and Ice Cream, a get together before my friend leaves for the States for 4 months. 

It was a nice get together, a lot of gossiping, which is always fun, as long as they don't become too mean spirited.

Wanted to try Cake Spade after the BBQ, but they only had al fresco seating left by the time we got there, and the weather was too warm for that experience to be enjoyable, so we went for Ice Cream instead. I'm not willing  to risk sitting in the Sun and my body reacting with the heat by releasing horrible body odour that's mainly emanating from my back. It really isn't a good smell, and the bad thing is sometimes when I actually start sweating like a cow and I turn my head back a little, I am able to actually catch of whiff of it. If I can smell my own body odor, than it means it must smell really fucking bad to everyone else within my vicinity.

We had difficulty finding the ice cream shop at first because being the geniuses that we were, we were looking at the map upside down, but we did managed to find the place and decided to order a mix platter of 4 flavors, chatted the rest of our time away, mainly just reminiscing and gossiping and went our separate ways shortly after.

On Tuesday, I had a 3 course meal lunch at Goodwood Park Hotel with my Mum and Brother, it was a belated lunch for my Mother. 

Sample Size Soup

Catch of the Day

Banana Crumble / Calamansi Creme Brulee

The first course was really nice, 3 small cups of soup, but after that, everything else didn't feel as fancy and really wasn't very impressive. It was by no means bad, but for a $60 meal, I was expecting a lot more. The service was great though, the servers remembers who ordered what and just presented us with our meals without having to ask, great for a lazy person like me who would rather not have to interact with anyone.





Lately I have also opened an Instagram account for my Online Bakery.

A photo posted by Rustic Palette Cupcakery (@rustic_palette) on Aug 27, 2015 at 2:09am PDT

I'm not really selling anything yet and the main reason why I'm not promoting it right now is because one of my Poly classmate recently did something similar, and promoting it right now would just look like I was copying her.



But as of now, I still have to decide the price point and the method of payment.

5 Inch

Headed down to Phoon Huat today to get some baking supplies.




Bought myself two 5 inch cake pans and some cake boards. After gathering the items I needed, I decided to head to the food coloring aisle to take a look at some decorating items before paying for my items.



As I was browsing through the food colouring options, I heard this woman asking her friend which colour was which and the person wasn't really replying, so I didn't really take much notice, but as I backed away, I caught a glimpse of the woman and realize she looked really familiar, so I inched forward to take a look at the person she was talking to and lo and behold, it was my bakery colleague, the one I bitched and moaned about a few post back. We met up again after that horrible get together and it went alright, so our last encounter wasn't an unpleasant experience.



When I saw his face, I noticed he was looking straight ahead as if trying to avoid eye contact with me, and normally in this situation, if I were to see someone I wasn't necessarily close to, someone like him for example, I would be doing to same thing, avoiding eye contact and looking as anonymous as possible, but I knew it was too late to do that "pretend I never see you" act when my curiosity got the better of me and I inched forward to take a closer look at him, so I started waving my hand at his face to grab his attention.



He did not look or sound surprised when he saw me greeting him because he knew I was there all along but just didn't feel the need to say Hi and I don't blame him really because we are not close, his wife looks at me and after realizing I wasn't someone she knew personally, just returned to what she was doing and left her husband and me alone.




We didn't really talk much when his wife walked away, it was a short conversation, if it can even be considered a conversation...

Him : "What are you doing here? You live nearby?"

Me : "Nah, I drove here."

Him: " Oh. What are you getting? Going to make cake?"

Me: "Yeah, I made buttercream yesterday so I'm here to get some supplies for my cake."

Him: "Oh!"

And that was it, after that, I just went back to looking at the food coloring bottles and slowly inched away from him and when he walked to a different aisle, I went to straight to the counter to pay for my item so I could quickly leave the place and not have to run into him again at a different section of the shop.




Walked back to the car after paying for my items, threw the baking supplies in the back seat, locked the door and headed towards Clementi Mall to get some bubble tea and snacks for my Mum and Sister. As I was on my way back to the car after getting the food and drinks, I run into him and his wife again and I did the same shit, I waved at his face again, but luckily this time we were both walking in opposite direction, so it was a split second exchange, which more than enough for us to "catch up and talk" before things got awkward.





Got back home and did my baking and here is what I made....

5 Inch Nutella Chocolate Cake

It was alright taste wise, but I'm impressed by how not shitty it looks. I mean it looks decent. My frosting skills have definitely improved, although it did take me roughly 20 minutes to frost the cake, but at least it's not a wobbly mess of crumbs and shit.

Another thing I'm impressed with is this...

We Can't Stop Stop Stop *korean word* Party Time!

I was able to view the new SNSD  Party music video before it hit the 301+ view counts. It's really nothing to brag about but I just thought it was impressive that I managed to see a single digit view count on the official SNSD music video.



Achievement Unlocked!



I was camping on the SMTOWN Youtube Channel, constantly hitting the refresh button until they uploaded the video. So I actually managed to watch the video literally seconds after it was uploaded, I'm not crazy though, I'm not refreshing the video every day ,7 days a week until it hits 20 million views because I have more important stuff to do, like playing this new MMO called Skyforge.



It's been a while since I have found a decent MMO to play. I played TROVE and I lost interest in that game pretty quickly after Skyforge was released, so now I spend most of my time playing Skyforge and so far, it's been quite entertaining but I doubt that interest will last long if I'm playing it alone.




I have also recently received a letter from the Army congratulating me on being awarded the $100 SAF Family Recogniton Voucher, which is great and all, except there's no $100 voucher in the letter, no code for me to use, no log in credentials for me to log in so I can claim my prize, just a letter congratulating me and a pamphlet that doesn't offer any proper instructions on how to claim my voucher.



The pamphlet instructs me to enter their website, log in, claim my prize and check out. I can't log in because I have no log-in credentials. So either someone in SAF fucked up or this is some elaborate puzzle I have to solve.

Hmmm.... Fucked Up or Elaborate Puzzle?

I'm not batman, so I'm gonna go with fucked up. I also can't be bothered to call up, so fuck all.



Just received the SMS with my log-in credentials.

ICT 3-4-5

I'm going to summarise what happened on the last 3 days of ICT all into 1 post because apart from the business of the third day, the last 2 days were pretty un-happening.




Day 3 -


Also known as the busiest day.


SAF day was on Wednesday and the main reason why the ICTs were called up this week, so we could make up for the lack of manpower from the full time and regular soldiers side.



Headed to the parade location really early in the morning and ended up waiting for probably around 6 hours before the guest started arriving. We had a few short briefings prior but most of the time was spend waiting in the nearby training shed either talking with each other or taking a nap on the extremely dirty floor which lead to a a bit of rash.



I was also shouted on on Wednesday for not doing my job properly by one of the regular sergeant, which was complete bullshit because I did nothing wrong.



My job that day was to marshall the guest vehicles into the parking lot and it so happens, the first vehicle that arrived was not a guest vehicle but a camp personnel vehicle. He knew where he wanted to go, and not being a guest of the parade, he was obviously not going to be headed into the guest parking space, so when I checked with the driver and found out where he wanted to go, I let him pass.



The sergeant assumed the driver was a guest of the parade and that I had led him the wrong way because I have provided him with wrong information, proceeds to yell at me from where he was standing, which was about 50 meters away going...

"EH YOU LET HIM ENTER THERE FOR WHAT?"

Really pissed off at me, so I shouted back in a non-offensive tone that the driver was a base personel, the sergeant then replies with...

"YOU DON'T STAND THERE BLUR BLUR, IF YOU DON'T MARSHALL PROPERLY I MIGHT AS WELL GET A DUMMY CUT OUT TO REPLACE YOU!"

I was really shocked when he actually started to reprimand me because as far as I know, I have never seen any sergeant in my camp scolding any ICTs before or treating them like a full time NSF, in fact, most of the time, the ICTs are left on their own like the working adults that they are outside of the army, so I was really pissed off after recovering from the initial shock of getting scolded in front of all the other ICTs and full time NSFs, but there was nothing I could do because had I done what I had wanted to do, I would have probably been charged with insubordination. So I  cursed at him silently and continued with my duty.



5 minutes later, the sergeant walks up to me and started talking to me with a very apologetic tone...

"Actually I didn't really want to shout at you, but we have to do things right so the operations will go smoothly."

I explained to him what had happened earlier with the camp personnel and although he didn't technically apologize, I could tell from his tone that he felt bad about shouting at me. In fact when he was inside one of the buses guiding the bus driver about where to go and saw me marshaling, he smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up, as if to tell me...

"GOOD JOB RESERVIST GUY, LET'S FORGET ABOUT HOW I FORGOT YOU ARE ACTUALLY AN ICT AND TREATED YOU LIKE A NSF EARLIER BY SCREAMING AT YOU!"

And I really don't hold any grudge against him for that because he did explain himself to me after, I mean I have been scolded by him before when I was still serving my 2 years so I was used to it, but that experience definitely left a bad taste in my mouth for the entire day after.



So after all the marshalling was done in the afternoon, we went back to do more waiting, this time maybe for about 2 to 3 hours until the parade was over. It was a long and tedious process because the guest didn't return all at once, some decided to stay longer to chat and drink and the whole thing only really ended after 10 pm, by which time I was already sticky all over with a thick layer of grease forming on my face.




Got home by around 11 pm via taxi driven by a taxi driver who didn't know the shortest route to get to my house, he ended up taking the expressway and missed all the turns, literally going the extra mile, in the end, I had to pay a $18 cab fare, which is ridiculous because that's almost the equivalent to me getting home from the airbase, which is from one end of Singapore to the other. $18 for a trip from Jurong to Hillview is just a bit too much, there were times I wanted to ask...

"Uncle, why you turn left, did you know you can just go straight?"

"Uncle, why you need to take expressway? Isn't that a lot longer?"

"Uncle, you just missed the turn"

He did ask me how to get to where I wanted to go, but because I didn't know recognize the road until I was finally at the Jurong Point shopping mall area, I just told the Uncle I didn't know how to go at all. I'm not sure if he genuinely didn't know how to get there thus the Expressway route, or he just wanted to make a few extra bucks off me, but nonetheless, I managed to reach home to take a shower and prepare myself a peanut butter sandwich before going to sleep because the meals that were provided that day weren't very appetizing I didn't even bother finishing half of it.




Day 4 -


The first time I drove to camp.


It was a relatively short day on Thursday, drove to camp and reach around 11.15 am, had lunch at 11.45 am, waited in the waiting room till further instructions were given and finally after 1 to 2 hours of waiting, we were finally debriefed and released.



It's nice that I was able to drive home that day, reduced what would have been a 2 hours journey home by to only half an hour.



Went out again in the night to get  Bubble Tea from KOI at Westmall with my Sister and on my journey there, was honked by this fucking impatient Taxi Driver at a traffic junction.


This mother fucker had wanted to do a right turn at the traffic junction, and it so happens the car in front of him (mine) didn't want to,  the traffic light was already red but the right turn on the traffic light was flashing green, since I wasn't planning on doing a right turn, I just stopped at the junction to wait until I could drive. So I don't fucking understand what his deal was when he kept honking at me, the lane I was on wasn't a "right turn only" lane, my plan is to drive straight, you honk honk honk like a motherfucker also no use, there's no KOI if I made a right turn, so stop fucking honking at me, stupid sack of shit.


I really wanted to flip the fucking old sack of bones off last night when I saw through the rear view mirror the expression he had on his face when he realized I had delayed his journey because apparently I was the inconsiderate one for not wanting to do a right turn. Stupid fucker, I kept staring at him through my rear view mirror the entire time I was waiting for the light to turn green, trying to send him a "FUCK YOU" message telepathically. If the guy behind you who's also planning to do a right turn as well can wait for 3 fucking minutes, then I'm sure you are able to as well.


I think he saw my Triangle  plate and thought because I was a new driver, I would be a pushover on the road, well fuck you you stupid old shit sack.

It's a Jennifer Lawrence gif from Silver Linings Playbook... again. It's really just a coincidence because I can't find the one I was looking for and this was the second best to express what I felt.

But I was able to get my KOI cravings satisfied, so thumbs up to that. Hadn't had one in a week and I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms.



Day 5 - 



Cohesion at Tampinese Safra today, exactly the same activities as the last one, bowling, lunch and movie. Except this time, I didn't bowl, the lunch was much better and I did not go to the LAN shop to suck at DOTA.




The 2 hours direct bus journey there was still alright, but the journey back was so boring I wished I had driven there instead.



We watched this direct-to-DVD movie called SkinTrade, which I thought was just a shitty version of TAKEN with a lower budget and a weak storyline. It was entertaining, but it was not a good movie, and I was shocked when I realized it was actually released this year straight to DVD, because the movie looked like it was made in the 90s and was the kind pirates would download, burn on CD and sell on the streets at 99 cents a piece or a $1.50 whatever the market rate is now to the older generation who don't know how torrenting works.



Apparently I also won some award today for something with 2 other guys, my friend being one and we both weren't even sure what or why we had been awarded. It's a hundred dollar gift voucher. I'm like Niki Minaj at the BET Awards.

Except I still don't know why I got the award. I'm pretty sure they just randomly picked like 3 names to give the vouchers out to or maybe the sergeant who shouted at me felt bad about it and just threw my name in.



 Either way, $100 gift vouchers Woot! Woot!

ICT Duos

Pretty much the same thing as what happened yesterday, a more detailed briefing about Wednesday's activities and a re-briefing for what will happen on Thursday and Friday.


We were told to reach at 9 am, only for the briefing to start at around 10 am.


At 10 am, we were briefed about what we would do, where we would be assigned to and what time we were expected to arrive the next day. I knew the parade for SAF Day will start some time in the evening, so I was expecting them to ask us to arrive maybe in the afternoon at the parade location or maybe in the late morning after 10 am, but for some reason, they wanted us to report to the airbase at 0630 in the morning, take the bus they have indented for us and reach the parade location by 0730 so we can have enough time to do "preparations" till 2 pm in the afternoon.



We will probably be doing absolutely nothing after the first hour of briefing at the parade location and we will only be dismissed after the last guy decides he has had enough of catching up with friends and stuffing himself silly with food and beer.


I'm already hating the last guy who's going to be leaving the parade, we are expected to work till 1 am tomorrow, that's fucking nuts. But the invited guest are all generally older people, so I doubt they are the sort who will stay up till wee hours in the morning gossiping about Army happenings and their family. I just hope they will all fuck off before 9 pm, we get debriefed till 10 pm and be released right after because I will be wanting to go back home and taking a bath straight away after that. These past 2 days, simply being present in the briefing room with the horrible air circulation is already making me feel all sweaty and sticky, I can only imagine how horrible it's gonna be tomorrow, I will probably start breaking out.



When the briefing officer told us that we had to reach the airbase by 0630 in the morning, he was considerate enough to ask who lived in the West side, that we could probably discuss with the sergeant about meeting us there directly, I raised my hand straight away and he took notice of me and this other guy seated behind me.



After he left, the sergeant who was in charge of the group I was assigned to comes over and briefs us about what we will be doing and he goes....

"Alright, so you guys roughly know what will be happening tomorrow, so tomorrow all of us will meet here at 0630."

....and I was expecting him to address those who live in the west (such as myself) who would heading directly to the parade location where to meet and what time we had to arrive, but he didn't, and he went on talking about something else, of course I was not gonna assume he was going to talk about it later, so I interrupted him and asked him what about those we were going to head to the location directly.  He stops, thinks to himself for a while and goes...

"I think we all meet here at 0630 instead, it's a lot easier because you guys won't be able to just go in by yourselves, you will be denied entry."

Ummm... Fuck No~ that's not a valid reason to have me wake up at 0500 in the morning or maybe even earlier and have to either cab there for $20 or trouble my Mum to drive me to the airbase before the break of dawn. So I suggested....

"Can we just meet at the bus stop outside the parade location so you can pick us up instead?"

I didn't think that sounded like a ridiculous suggestion because suggesting for us west side people to meet at the airbase at 0630 in the morning, only to have them drive us right back to where we came from is even more ridiculous. The whole time I was the only one who was trying to convince the sergeant to let us (the west side people) head to the location directly, this other guy who also lived in the west for some reason just couldn't be fucked.  Every time the sergeant denied my request, he just turns his head to his neighbor and gives a look of displeasure and that was it, I mean say something to back me up as well, why are you not saying something to make both our lives easier?


I think had I not raised my hand when the briefing office asked who lived in the west side, he would have probably just kept his hands down and reported to the airbase at 0630 like everyone else who lived in the east.


The sergeant didn't really fancy the idea of us heading to the location directly on our own and he suggested we could stay in tonight, that they will provide a bunk for us to sleep in, I was naturally really unhappy about it because it's such a fucking stupid and lazy as fuck idea, I mean how hard is it for you to just stop the bus at the bus stop for less than 5 minutes, pick us up and head into the camp together, just an extra 5 minutes compared to having us stay in camp for a whole night, so for the next 5 minutes as he was talking, my face had this expression of shock mixed with a little bit of disgust...

I was looking at the other guy and I really don't know what was going on in his head he didn't seem to give 2 fucks about it. Guess that's what happens when you have a car to drive you around. But come'on, even if I could drive, I wouldn't want to drive to the airbase only to have to drive back to the west again, that's wasting time, petrol and extra sleep.



The sergeant finally comes back to his senses after he finished talking, probably realizing how ridiculous it is to have us travel from the West to the East only to head to the West again, literally from one end of Singapore to the other and than back to the other, slightly further end again, and maybe also because of my scowl, decided to give in and allow us to head to the location directly.



After he briefed us, the lieutenant who is in my group along with the other ICT sergeant comes up to me and tells me they will be meeting up with me and the other guy at a control station near the parade location first before making our way over together, which was great because I really don't want to meet up  alone with the other guy, would've been awkward.




After that briefing, we broke for lunch and by 12.30, we were released. I took the bus, train, bus combo home today, decided to give no fuck when I boarded the bus and just sat my way to the control station, where I gave some fuck and only sat for maybe 6 to 7 stops during the train ride before finally giving my seat up to this old man who definitely looked like he needed it.


At the 4th to 5th stop I was already feeling a bit self-conscious because the train was starting to get really pack and there I was tugged in the corner in my No.4 uniform looking at my iPhone, but all those who were entering the train were able-bodied looking individual who didn't look like they needed the seat desperately, I mean it would look weird if I gave my seat up to some beefy 20 year old dude because he looked like he needed the seat more than I did, because I am wearing my army uniform, a uniform that makes all the seats I take up become a reserved seating for anyone not wearing an army uniform. Wearing my army uniform and taking the public transport makes me feel obligated to be an extra nice Singaporean, and it's really quite tiresome.





So I was actually quite thankful that the old man came in, because he was a very valid reason for me to give my seat up, the old man was really nice when I stood up and directed him to the empty seat and even thanked me for the seat, a few stops later this other guy (who was not in an army uniform) who was seated across me also gives his seat up to this old lady who entered and she didn't even acknowledge or thank the young man for giving up his seat for her, she just plop herself down and continued talking on the phone without a care in the world. What a self entitled old bitch, I fucking hate people like her, sure the seat is reserved for older people like you, but IT'S NOT YOUR SEAT, you didn't pay for it, at least show some fucking gratitude by smiling when someone actually gives their seat up for you. The only contribution you made to society that granted you the right to occupy the reserve seating without having to get judged by the commuters was by simply growing old.




Anyway, when the old man reached his stopped, he actually thanked me again and gestured me to seat down, as if he was returning the seat to me, I smiled back at him but of course never went back down to seat because it just made me feel uncomfortable to be seated in my No.4 uniform and for that, I would like to Thank all you ungrateful Singaporeans who like to stomp soldiers like us for being humans who actually feel tired and need a seat every once in a while like the rest of the human race, just for $50.



After I got off the train, I went to the bus stop, boarded the bus and really couldn't be bothered to stand for another 20 minutes after having to stand in the train for the past half an hour, so I just sat my way through till I got home, the bus was also relatively empty so I didn't feel pressured to have to stand the entire time.




Total travel time was 2 hours, managed to reach home at around 2.30pm. If I was wearing my civilian attire, I would probably have dropped off at Bugis to buy a cup of bubble tea and fried chicken cutlet before going home.

ICT First Day.

Today is the first day of my second ICT. My Mum dropped me off at Simei in the morning and I took a bus from there, didn't realize the trip would take half an hour, so I actually stood up the entire time in the bus, half crouching because the bus ceiling was ridiculously low, but I persisted anyway because I'm an idiot and the whole time I was in the bus stuck in that uncomfortable position, there was this other NS guy seated comfortably in the seat at the back of the bus, probably just quietly judging that weird lanky guy standing awkwardly at the standing area of the bus.



Anyways, half an hour later, I was able to finally drop off at my stop, I was maybe 15 minutes late and was still considered one of the earlier ones.



Initially, I wasn't sure what the schedule was going to be like when I got the notice to go back for my reservist but I knew it was gonna have a lot of waiting and after hearing the schedule they had planned for us today from the warrant officer, I was right.



I'm not complaining about not having anything to do, I mean I'd rather sit and wait for things to happen in camp than to have to go and clean weapons or do guard duty for 6 hours at one go, but what I don't like is how we could have ended so much earlier if they had just push all the activities into the morning session. There was a lot of waiting for things to happen, but we were able to end at 3.30 pm after the last minute activities they had planned was over.



I was lazy to take the bus, train, bus combo home in my No.4, so I just took a $20 cab ride home. Managed to reach home in half an hours, that's a quarter of the time it would take me to reach home had I taken the bus, train, bus combo, and in my No.4 which means I might have to stand the whole trip home because those middle-aged Singaporean Aunties just love to Stomp the shit out of us for a $50 reward.



The main event for this ICT is SAF Day on Wednesday, not very exciting for the ICTs because we are gonna be doing some vehicle ushering. The last duty I did during my NS before I ORDed was ushering at SAFTI, and now I am going to be returning back there to do the exact same thing, except this time, it's going to be a much bigger event, with the President and Prime Minister attending.



Tomorrow is going to be another briefing again, asked my Mum if I could take the car and she wasn't very keen on the idea, so no car for my convenience tomorrow, FML, have to go back home via the bus, train, bus combo tomorrow, although I am not very inclined to do so. Might end up just taking a fucking taxi again. But on the up side, I will be able to use the car on Thursday, so that's good, my initial plan was to get my driving license before this ICT so I could drive to camp, but now it seems I can only use it once. Pfft.



My driving confidence has taken a tumble again, a few days ago when I was reversing my Mum's car into the parking space, I accidentally hit the car bumper against the freaking pillar, that parking spot was the very first parking spot I attempted after I got my license, decided it would be a great idea to park there again to prove to myself how much I have improved over the last month, and BAM!, ran right into the pillar, such a fucking idiot. There was a dent but it's not as bad as I thought it was when I heard the pillar kissing the car's bumper.



Now I'm afraid I will accidentally bump someone's car on Thursday, someone who has a higher rank than me who  wouldn't think twice about fucking me upside down for ruining his or her beautiful car.

Rejected

After going for the SIMGE Orientation Briefing about a week back, I started to have second thoughts about going for the degree program. The days before the Orientation briefing were already filled with second thoughts.

"I want to become a graphic designer"

That was the excuse I came up with when I went to apply for the course, that was the answer I gave my parents when I told them I wanted to apply for the course, that was my reply when my friends ask me why I chose that course and everyone believed it, even me.





But that's not the truth. I told everyone that so they would believe I had everything planned out properly, that it wasn't a half fuck decision I was making. Truth is I didn't really want to become a graphic designer, I just wanted to get out of the Interior Design Industry, so I told myself I wanted to become a graphic designer and convinced myself that it was what I truly wanted.





When I applied for culinary school, I told my parents I wanted to be baker, I told my friends baking was my passion and I knew for sure baking was what I wanted to do at that time. I know that feeling of really wanting something and that feeling, the conviction I had when I told my family and friends that I wanted to be a baker  just wasn't there when I told them I wanted to become a graphic designer.





I wasn't applying for SIMGE because I was truly interested in it, I was doing it because it was the easier University to get accepted into and it was only a year of studies before I could get my degree and start working as a Graphic Designer.

I had " the grass is always greener on the other side" mentality, I assumed being a graphic designer would be more interesting, but that was all assumptions, I didn't know what being a graphic designer would be like, heck it might even be as dull as interior design,and if that's the case and the grass isn't greener on the other side, I would have wasted $20,000 and another year of my life.





My biggest issue is probably the credibility of the course, it's a Design Communication course, but they don't seem to be having any lessons on the different software Graphic Designers will have to use in the work force and are somehow more concerned about the proper ways to to "cite sources" when we are writing an article. I never went for the Open House so I don't really know what they will be teaching exactly, but the impression of the course I got from the orientation briefing was a confusing mishmash of not really graphic designing and not really mass communication.

I mean the school can't even find like a proper successful student to feature on their website? The one that was featured last year, when I read through her story, it didn't really leave any lasting impression, the only thing I remembered about her was that she looked like Daphne Khoo from Singapore Idol and she wore fedora on her head,  which of course made me question my decision to join the course, and the one this year although probably slightly better off, still did not manage to convince me that the degree could help students secure a successful job at a design firm. I'm not saying a person should rely on just their paper qualification for success, but come on, when I look at an alumni for inspiration, I want to see a huge success story, someone working for a huge design company or running their own successful company, or at the very least was part of a hugely successful project that would at least let me know that the school is able to churn out hugely successful individuals and give me hope that one day, I could achieve similar or even better greatness. But all I get are individuals who are only mildly successful or working in a completely different industry, the latter I honestly think affects a majority of the alumni.




I recently saw their grad show Facebook page as well and all I am going to say is they could have  at least asked someone to proof read some of the student's "Words of Wisdoms", they don't call it that but how awesome would it be if they had, before publishing some of the statuses, not saying all of them are badly written, there are some that are not bad, but the one that stood out for me was the one where the girl compared designing to baking, it was such a bad analogy (apart from the grammatical errors). As someone who studied design for 3 years and baked professionally before and still do once in a while for fun, I felt that she could've came up with a better analogy.

Even she's confused about what she just wrote.

She compared the design process to baking, which when I first read, got me a little interested, and then everything else after just kinda went downhill. Apparently, to her, designing without any design process would be like flour, but why like flour? Because it's white and powdery? She should have said "would be like baking with just flour" but hey, that's what happens when no one tries to proof read and do any editing. And that if you only have flour, you can't bake anything, but without flour, baking will also be a failure, which is not really true because Awfully Chocolate does sell this item called Flourless Chocolate Cake but I'm just nitpicking here because I do understand the point she's trying to put across, it's just that as a baker, I know a bit more about baking than regular folks and all the little errors in the details are popping out at me.





She really should have compared designing to cooking and not baking, baking is a science and it requires you to follow a recipe closely, which is not what design is about because that would be called plagiarism, whereas with cooking, it's very much trial and error, which is what the design process is like, coming up with ideas and adding new ones to the existing ones. Cooking (professionally) also requires patience, time, effort and creativity, Patience because, actually fuck patience, cooks will probably be screaming from one end of the kitchen to the other asking if their steak is done or if the pasta is al dente, time because they will be stuck in the kitchen for the whole day, literally stamp in before the break of dawn and only leave after the sun has set or not leave at all, effort because they are working literally the whole day and creativity to conjure up reasons to convince themselves that despite being overworked and underpaid, they still enjoy what they are doing.... some would refer to the "excuses"  as Passion because that feeds you and provides a roof over your head in life.

So all signs pointed to a really underwhelming learning experience, that's why I decided to reject the offer. No point investing time, effort and money in a degree that I have to try so hard to convince  myself is worth getting. If I have to try that hard to convince myself that it's worth it, despite being slapped in the face with proof that it isn't, it's better to walk away than walk in blinded with ignorance and hope for the best.


p/s. I apologize in advance if that girl, by some act of miracle, actually chance upon this blog and reads this post. No one really reads this blog if that's any consolation.