3rd Reservist

Just returned from my first 2 days of reservist.


Initially I wasn't sure what the plan for the 2 weeks of reservist would be like, the last 2 reservist I had gone through last year were all low key and we spend most of our time just waiting for things to happen, well, the first 2 days of this reservist was pretty much the same as the last 2 low keys I had done, except with the addition of live rangeon the morning of the next day, which was today.



Majority of us were called up about a few days prior to the start of the reservist by the camp to bring along the necessary equipment required for any range shoot, that includes the helmet and the vest as well as any other toiletries and change of clothes for the mandatory stay-in on the first night. Bringing the vest alone already takes up a considerable amount of space in my bag, so to add a helmet as well was as all the neccessary change of clothes, towel, toiletries and shoes was quite a hindrance.



When I reported to camp yesterday , I was expecting to see familiar faces, ICTs who had done their reservist with me the last 2 times should probably be in the same call up since we had done 2 ICTs together, unfortunately, there were a lot more new faces than old ones, many looked like they were in their late 30s and they had this air about them that just screamed lao jiao. Thankfully, I had one friend who was called up along with me, so we were pretty much stuck with each other due to our disinterest in socializing with anyone.



The first day was pretty much a re-familiarization of how to handle a weapon, a few lectures that no one could sit through without their soul leaving their body and a lot of waiting around for things to happen, as per usual.  During one of the lectures, we were told what we would be doing for the following two weeks and it was exactly what I had thought it would be, guard duty.



The second day was the day of the live shooting and everyone had to wake up at 5 am to draw their weapons, eat their breakfast and head for the bus that would bring us directly to the site. My friend and were able to avoid going for range because as it turns out, we were not properly trained to fire the older rifle, like most of the more senior ICTs, so we were able to exclude ourselves from waking up at that ungodly hour, that also meant that he and I had brought along our vest and helmet for nothing, but bringing the vest and helmet along for nothing is better than waking up at 5 am.



I woke up at around 9 am and pretty much spend the next 3 hours sitting around in the bunk doing absolutely nothing except surf the net on my phone, which got boring really quickly. We were supposed to meet up with the few other ICTs who also didn't go for the shoot at around 10 am, but they were no where to be found despite us waiting at the meet up point for 15 to 20 minutes, so we just went back to the bunk to wait because the weather is a bitch.



When everyone finally returned from the range, we had lunch and then more lectures, followed by some practical lessons on how to search a person, their car as well as what to do when faced with an intruder. The whole time I was just too hot and bothered to really care about anything expect to enter a room with the air-conditioned set to high or take a shower because holy fuck, it was so fucking humid and warm that my uniform was starting to get drenched in sweat despite me not actually being under the Sun.



And then came the time for the ICTs to get their Guard Duty scheduling and it was pretty much everything I had hopped wouldn't happen.


In the past,when I was an active solider, the ICTs were given 3 specific spots to do their guard duties, and these locations were always tucked away in very deep part of the camp where no one will be able to see them, this was so the higher ups and the general public wouldn't actually see them in all their "can't be fucked" glory, like majority of the ICTs have. But now, all that has change, now, the ICTs are now given the worst spots to do their duty, spots that were normally filled by the new batch of active soldiers who don't know that they are being taken advantage of by the older batches.



Having to do guard duty of any sorts for 6 hours at one go is already bad enough, but to have to do it constantly standing up in the sun, wearing a vest and holding a rifle, it just makes the whole experience extremely unpleasant, so to learn that I would be doing exactly that when I return back to camp on Monday, that is like the rotten maraschino cherry on top on a fecal sundae.



I don't have to do it just once like how I normally would as an active solider, oh no, as an ICT, I have to go through one 4 hour shift and two 6 hours shift as a standing sentry. It's really bullshit when I think about it, because the in-charge couldn't be bothered to spread out the duties for everyone evenly, some have to endure the elements while others just get to sit in the air-conditioned room.



This is only the first mount, I will still have another 2 more mounts to complete before the reservist is over and I really can't picture any of the other guys be willing to actually do the sentry duties after doing what they will be doing next Monday. The only things I can hope for now are....


1. I would be paired with an interesting active solider to talk to.

OR

2. The haze gets so bad the higher ups will have no choice but to make us do shorter 3 hours slots instead of 6 hours slots. I personally would prefer multiple 3 hours then a few 6 hours if I had to do sentry, and that was really what was implemented after I left, so I have no idea why now they reverted it back to 6 hours slot because that is extremely long, I really have no idea how I could have lasted that long last time in the past.

OR

3. It rains, like really heavily so the weather would at least be cooling. I have checked the weather forecast and it has predicted rain, so I hope it really does pour.



This are the only 3 possible scenarios that could happen and I really wish at least one of them would. Well I wish No.1 would happen because there's nothing worse than doing duty with another person who isn't interested in talking, I had to endure that once in the past and that six hours was probably the longest and dullest six hours I had to endure.





Had I actually have a real job outside, this would probably feel like a vacation, but right now, being the most useless and overpaid worker in my Dad's company, when people ask me what I am working as, I am always almost too ashamed to answer them.



The last interview I had gone for, not the one that I blogged about,  showed great prospects in terms of career advancement and sounded really promising, the interview had gone quite well and I was told to expect an answer by next week, which is this week, which is about to end soon, I still have no respond from that and that is really quite depressing. The admin lady told me to email her should I not receive any response within the next week,but I have gone through enough interviews to know that when I don't get any respond, it always means I didn't get the job., which I honestly saw coming when I realize how under-experienced I was after having worked for my Dad for almost 2 years and that is why, I have to really start looking for a real job soon before I become way too inexperienced for my pay grade.

Chun Cui He

I was able to get my hands on a few bottle of this Taiwanese drinks a few days ago when Pokemon Go was just released.

This product is known to have a relatively short shelf life but being the greedy little bugger that I was, I decided to go ahead and get 4 bottles, 2 Latte and 2 Milk Tea.


After searching high and low for this bottled drinks for what seemed like forever, actually finding them in the fridge of an inconspicuous 7-11 in the heartlands is like a sign from a higher power to just go crazy with the purchase.



6 was the maximum a single customer allowed to get by 7-11, so as to give others a chance to try the drinks, but whether or not that rule is actually implemented is a mystery to me.  Searching #chuncuihe on Instagram still yields multiple post of people buying this drinks in bulk, shamelessly showing off their greed like it was something to be proud of. I didn't want to become one of those people, so I only bought 4, enough to make the visit to 7-11 worth it, but not enough to actually become a typical kiasu Singaporean.


During the first few days of its' released, I would come across people on Facebook proudly showing off their stash of the drinks, they would post it on the 7-11 Facebook page, or the Supplier's Facebook page, showing off their purchases, and all I could think about when I see those post are what a bunch of selfish assholes. I mean getting 20 bottles to drink for yourself? Really? That's almost 5% of the entire stock gone, how do they even get 20 bottles from the fridge to the counter, make 4 trips back and forth and receive silent judgement from everyone else? I know I would be seriously judging the person if I actually saw them in action.


Anyways, I actually managed to get mine when the cashier was restocking the drinks, so it was just pure luck that I decided to drop by that particular 7-11 when I did. When the cashier saw my gleeful expression as I made my way towards the fridge, she knew what I wanted, she smiled back at me and flashed her huge...



Here's the verdict on the drinks.



I had the Latte first because it was supposedly the better flavor, I read about it online and it was allegedly better than the Milk Tea variant. I mean Chun Cui He is the name of the Latte drink, it's their signature drink, it had to be the first flavor I tried.... and it was such a huge disappointment.



It wasn't as if the coffee was sub-par, I have had sub par bottles of coffee drink before and I could always finish those if I wanted to, this coffee on the other hand was almost bordering on undrinkable. The best way I could describe the taste is like drinking liquid mud grounded with a hint of coffee and milk, it was bitter, it had a burnt aftertaste which oddly reminds me of homemade popcorn. It took me 2 days to finish a single bottle and I still have another unopened one in the fridge.




The Milk Tea was not as horrible as the Latte despite it not being the Signature drink, it tasted like Lipton Tea with Milk, that's essentially what it taste like, so I was able to enjoy it but I will not go out of my way to actually look for them again, it was alright, but I can get much better milk tea at Koi and Gong Cha, plus they were priced at $2.80 per bottle, that's pretty expensive... that's almost the same amount I was cheated off at Awfully Chocolate when I was suppose to get a discount for being a DBS Cardholder but the cashier forgot about it and charged me the regular price for a piece of Super Stacked Chocolate Cake.

First Job Interview Again

I have finally started sending out my resumes again.



Working at my Dad for almost 2 years has been a rather relaxing experience, in terms of job responsibilities, not much is expected from me and that has made me pretty much useless in all my computer software skills. I have improved a little bit, but considering the fact that I am suppose to have 2 years worth of experience as an Interior Designer on my resume, the standard of work at which I am currently churning does is clearly not cutting it.



I've had wanted to look for a proper job for a while now, after being delegated to doing administrative and accounts related errands, my exposure to anything even remotely related to designing has started to dwindle. I've not been doing any interior designing for the past 6 months now, probably even longer. Instead of working under my Dad, I'm now working under him and the accountant who has been shoving me with a lot of different responsibilities an accountant should be handling, like chasing for rental money, writing invoices for the tenants, filling up CPF forms, mailing out cheques to other companies for their services, depositing company cheques, I've essentially become an errand boy for the accountant.




What used to be a small favor I did to lessen the workload for the accountant, who would ask if I was free in the beginning to do those small favors for her, has now become full fledged responsibilities, she has stopped asking me if I am free to do those task for her, now, I have to free myself from any work to do those task for her.



So I've kinda had enough of that and think it's about time to start looking for a real job. I haven't had a real job since 2014 when I was working as a baker.



I've been sending out my resumes to probably 5 interior design firms and furniture store, so far only 2 design firm have gotten back to me, I've reapplied to IKEA again, but I highly doubt they would get back to me, the last time I applied to them, despite the automated email telling me that I would be sure to hear from them within 30 days, I got no response at all, couldn't even check on their website if their HR department saw my resume.



Anyways, I had my first interview today.I had came across the job listing a couple of times on Jobstreet and I found it to be a rather unappealing position. It was looking for designers with at least one year experience, but it wasn't offering a salary that commensurate with the listed experience needed. A quick search on the company's Facebook page showed nothing but works the company has done.



Normally when I visit an Interior Design Firms' Facebook page, I would be able to see pictures of their office, an album of their Grand Opening, maybe a few pictures of the staff having a party or just works of other designers in the company being shown on the Facebook page to assure potential customers that the company had a bunch of top quality designers, well, none of those pictures existed, all the works I saw were done by a single designer and that was it.



Since I had only receive one confirmation for a job interview out of the 4 companies I had applied for, I decided to just try my luck and apply for the position, and lo and behold, I receive a text message on the very same day from the boss, scheduling to do a casual interview with me the following day.



We met at the location as per discussed today, a cafe near his office, and even though he told me it was a casual interview, I still decided to at least wear a buttoned shirt and jeans, the boss on the other hand was casually dressed, in a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans.



The interview lasted for probably over an hour and during it, he was telling me what he expected of me should he choose to hire me, sharing with me about his work ethics and his past work experience. He then tells me he was a one man company, I was the first designer he was interviewing and the position he has listed on Jobstreet would be for the very first employee he has ever employed, as if that wasn't reassuring enough, I later find out that he used to run a restaurant in the past, less than a decade ago, that didn't do so well.



It is one thing to work in a different field to explore your career options, but to actually be a boss of a business in an entirely different industry, to actually invest money in a business and then fail at it, then come to the design industry, it's just feels extremely really fickle minded and unstable. Had he told me he has been working in the design industry consistently for 10 years and only decided to run his own company after gaining the necessary experience and clientele needed from his the firm he worked at previously, I would be more confident in his ability to run a successful company.




What he shared with me about his work ethics also didn't really help boost my confidence in him whatsoever....


"I want to stand out from the rest of the design firm in Singapore, I'm not someone who follows the latest design trend, I like to think creatively and out of the box."


That sounds like something an ambitious and naive individual would say, it's the kind of bullshit I would see on Job listings..



"We are looking for creative individuals who can think out of the box, you must have a flair for design and a keen eye for the latest trend. " - And its a position for a draftsmen, where you are not suppose to think out of the box, you are suppose to follow the instructions of the lead designer, you have to think in the lead designer's box, design as per instructed and the only time your keen eye is needed is to spot if the AutoCAD file is missing any annotations or measurements.



I showed the boss my works and he showed me his, I have seen them before on his Facebook, and I thought they were decent, that is partly why I decided to apply for the position. But when he started to describe how different his work was from other Interior Design firm, that was when I kinda just wanted to roll my eyes, the works were alright, they weren't different, if anything, they felt a bit bare.


He talked about how he was thinking out of the box when he decided to use wall cornices to create a frame on the wall to accent a wall hung TV console

Not his work, but the idea is the same. The framing of the TV Console area using Wall Cornices.
Think out of the box, by creating a box.

I thought that is what most designers would do to achieve that frame.



And then he showed me furniture he had designed himself, which once again were very conventional, designs that were similar to those I had seen on websites like HipVan or FortyTwo, designs that are currently in trend at the moment.



I mean he was really tooting his own horn over nothing, sure the designs were nice, but he made it sounds like it was something so amazing that no one had ever seen before, when in fact, they were all designs I had seen on Pinterest before. In fact, the Interior Design works from the design firm I used to work at are all a lot more beautiful than his.



He continued sharing the experiences he had handling projects with his clients in the past, how they all trusted him as an Interior Designer by giving him full reign of the design of their house, how he would only design things the way he want it to be designed and his clients design opinions mean nothing to him, if they were not please with his design, they could go find someone else.


He would scold his clients if they bought furniture that didn't fit with his design, he even told me his clients were actually scared of him when they bought furniture without consulting him first.



What the fuck?



He is actually scolding paying customers for having an opinion that differs from his, rejecting jobs if they didn't bend to his design will. I can only imagine what would he do to someone who was working for him, who has a different taste in design from him, is he going to start verbally abusing his workers for it, for having a bad taste in design because it isn't the same taste as his?




I will admit, I am not like him, I actually like to follow trends, that is why when I found a 7-11 stocking bottles of Chun Cui He Milk Tea and Latte, I went and bought 4 bottles of it, they were kinda average, totally not worth the hype, the Latte was especially gross, but that's besides the point. I enjoy browsing Pinterest to get inspired by the latest design trends, that's how one grows as a designer, to constantly be inspired by the design of others and it is also what made me legitimately interested in Interior Designing.



Thinking creatively on your own without allowing yourself to be inspired by the latest design trends will only get you so far, and it shows because all his works look very similar to one another and it doesn't help that most of his works are minimalist.




So getting me to start working under him is going to be extremely unlikely. He sounds like a nice guy, but during the interview, there were several qualities about him as a designer that I was very apprehensive about and I have a feeling if I started working for him, on top of a meager pay check, there might be a possibility of getting reprimanded for being a blind sheep and following the latest design trends.

EAT!

It seems as though my posts lately always centers around experiences with twats, be it in the form of a F&b sales assistant or a disgruntled ambulance driver.


Today's post won't be any different.



There was no dinner at home today, so my sister and I decided to head over to the nearby mall to get our dinner. There were a few options to choose from but I wanted to have noodles for dinner, so we did and went to a noodle shop called EAT. The outlet we visited today had quite a few PRC workers, so conversations we had were all in mandarin.


I headed up to the counter when we reached the shop and the conversation between the guy at the counter and I went like this (translated to English)...


Counter Guy : What can I get for you?


Me : Ummmm...


*I look over to my sister who was still busy deciding on what she wanted and upon realizing I was waiting for her, she urges me to order first*


Me : Can I have a Fishball Bee Hoon & Fishball Kuay Teow. Takeaway!


*counter guy proceeds to enter my order into the machine and then goes*


Counter Guy: Eating here or takeaway?


Me : Takeaway. -never hurts to repeat myself I guess-


*Counter guy repeats what I just said, "Takeaway",  and looks up from the machine, waiting for my sister to make her order.*


Sister : I will have Laksa.


*Counter guy keys in order, ask the type of noodle she wants and then tells the cooks our orders*


Counter Guy : Would you like anything else? Drinks?


*we shake our head*


Counter Guy : Fried fritters?


*we shake our head again, paid up and headed to the side to wait for our orders to be prepared*


At this point, my sister notices the cooks were preparing 3 dishes that were similar to our order, but instead of being prepared in a takeaway container, they were served in a bowl and left on the counter, worried that the 3 bowls of noodles might be ours, she asks me if I had told the guy I wanted to takeaway and not dine-in. I told her I did and assumed the 3 bowls probably belonged to another group of customer.


About a minute later, one of the cook looks at the untouched bowls of noodles on the counter and goes...


Cook : Come and collect your noodles!


....just shouting it across the whole shop, I still thought that the order belonged to someone else, so I didn't respond, my sister was a bit worried and asked me again if I was sure I told the guy I wanted to takeaway, I responded I was sure. The counter guy then notices my sister and I standing at the corner and looks at us for a while before looking at the bowls of noodles, and then back at us again...


Counter Guy : You guys wanted to takeaway?


Sister and I : Yes. We ordered takeaway


Counter Guy : So you want to takeaway?


Sister : Yes! *firm tone*



And then the fucker decided to just stare at us, literally glaring at the both of us for probably 2 seconds in just pure annoyance mixed with a bit of disbelief. When he finally snapped back to reality, he demands an additional 60 cents from us for the takeaway fee and proceeds to grab each bowl of noodle to dump them into the takeaway container, making sure to glare at us again after he was done with each bowl.


I just looked at him, a bit taken aback that he was giving so much attitude. I mean it's not my fault the dude's so fucking incompetent at taking orders, he even repeated the word "takeaway" when I told him I wanted to "takeaway".

Me: “打包！”

Him: “打包。”

对，我要打fucking包，你这可蠢货。

I chose not to argue, and just half smiled at him because I really didn't want to argue in mandarin with a PRC, because that's just asking for trouble. My Chinese is pretty horrible as it is, and if I wanted to argue in English, I would rather insult him in front of his face without him understanding a word of what I said rather than have him scream...

"Fruck you! Fruck you!

...at me. This is a very trivial case of bad customer service and I'm sure there are many worst ones out there, but that glare he gave us when he realize HE fucked up made me want to take the bowl of Laksa and throw it at his face.

Ambulance Driver MuthaFucker

Whilst driving out to get lunch for the family today at Westgate, I decided to try a different route to reach my destination because driving the same route is boring, I wanted a change of scenery.


So as I was driving, I reached this cross junction where I could either go straight via the old route, or I could make a right turn and go the other route, since I was so bored of the old route for reasons unknown,  I decided go right, and that's where the problem started really.



As I made a right turn, instead of turning into the lane I was suppose to turn to, which is the middle lane, I decided to turn into the right lane, since the car that was next to me prior to the turn was making a U-Turn, I thought there should be enough time and space for my car to enter the right lane without causing any accident.



There was no accident, but what I had in exchange was a very disgruntled driver who kept honking at my car, which startled my sister who was along for the trip. I looked at my rear view mirror upon hearing the angry honks to see what had happened and I see an ambulance with the siren lights turned on. I thought he was alerting me to let him cut my lane because he had an emergency situation, so as I was preparing to slow down and let him overtake me, I then see the ambulance lane change to the middle lane, still honking as he drove past me, and at this point I could see the driver, and he was a very angry Indian man who was glaring at me as he drove past, that would have been fine, I might have gotten a bit upset but I deserve, seeing how I did not stick to my lane, but then what he did next was what really pissed me off.... he decided that giving me the stink eye wasn't a bad enough punishment for cutting his lane, he actually fucking flipped me off as he drove past me.



I was fucking pissed!



Should he honk at me ? Yes, he should because I should have stuck to my lane instead of cutting into his.


Did I know he was there? Obviously not, otherwise I wouldn't have cut into his lane, especially because it's an ambulance with the siren lights on.


Should he have given me the finger? All I did was just cut his lane, and it wasn't as if I had done it on purpose to spite him, I did not curse at him and or tell his mother to go fuck herself, so No! it doesn't warrant a finger.


He finally stops at a red light and as I was still feeling really riled up from that middle finger, I decided to stop my car right fucking next to him. He notices my car and he decides to take a proper look at me, or glare at me, I did not feel any sort of intimidation because the guy is probably well into his late 40s to early 50s, all he looked like to me was an angry old Indian man. What is he going to do? Exit from his vehicle and try to start a fight with me? I knew he wasn't going to get physical so I returned the favor and glared right back at him.



I was talking smack about him to my sister, and I made sure he knew I was talking smack about him because I was staring at him as I was doing so... he then proceeds to inch his ambulance forward a little and try to read my number plate, which is fucking stupid because what is he going to do with my number plate, go to a police station to report me for cutting his lane?

Fuck off. And he did, the moment the light turn green, he sped off, to save the poor soul who probably lost his life because the ambulance took too long to reach. Ain't nobody got time to get physical when there's a life at stack.

That being said, the ambulance isn't a big one, so the accident he's probably driving towards might probably be as severe as a paper cut. 

"Ah I cut my finger accidentally with this piece of paper!"

"Not to worry, Muthu is here to save the day with my small ass ambulance!"

"It's fine Muthu, I just need a plaster."

"Muthu will go get plaster from the closest Watsons. Muthu away!"

*drives sorry ass ambulance to nearby Watsons and gets cheap ass plasters because Muthu ain't about the rich lifestyle*

"Sorry Muthu is late, Muthu got lane cut by some Chinese on the road just now. Chinese learn lesson because Muthu give him middle finger. No one messes with Muthu and gets away with it."

"Its fine Muthu, I got a plaster at home. It's all patched up. You can go home now."

"Muthu has failed! Muthu will commit seppuku!"

....but Muthu was unable to commit seppuku because Muthu couldn't afford a Tanto and PaperCut patient didn't want to offer her kitchen knife because she didn't want to clean human innards off the floor of her living room.

Bad Customer Service Rant

I had decided that since today was such a hot day, I would take a drive down to Holland Village to get a cold drink from Boost and then head to Plain Vanilla Bakery to get some cupcakes since I was going to be there. 

The moment I saw Boost, I was actually really happy that there wasn't any customers, that meant minimal waiting time for my drinks, so as I walked up to the shop, I notice there were 2 girls who were on shift, a Malay girl, who was fiddling with her phone whilst stuffing chips into her mouth and a Eurasian girl, who was busying preparing a few orders , for who I'm not sure because there was literally no other customer except me, maybe she was making for customers who would be returning shortly, maybe she was experimenting with new flavors, but either way, I was sure she was not going to be the one serving me since she was legitimately busy.

At this point, I assumed the girl who was stuffing chips into her mouth would stop what she was doing and greet me, I mean even if she wasn't looking at my direction, her peripheral vision should be able to see me standing at the counter, so I just stood there and waited for maybe 5 seconds under the assumption that she would actually start doing her job, because if a person stands at the counter for more than 5 seconds without moving, they are probably there to actually buy something and not admire the menu. She doesn't seem to be aware that I was there or just didn't really care because she continued doing whatever the fuck she was doing, playing with her phone and stuffing chips into her mouth. I had to call out to her 3 times before she finally responded. 

When she finally walks over, I greeted her and she smiled for as long as it takes for a person to say Hi, literally half a second and that friendly face morphed into this unfriendly "fuck you for interrupting my chip stuffing ritual" look, like she suddenly realize she had just seen the person who ran her fucking dog over, me being the one who ran her imaginary dog over.

For the next few seconds when she was taking my order, her tone was just plain rude and condescending, when she asked if I wanted Original size, she sounded as if she was really telling me...

"Of course you want Original, pfft! I would roll my eyes if I could, but I can't because I need this job to be able to satiate my need for my potato chips. One day I will open my own potato chip factory and just make potato chips for myself forever"

And really, for the entire process of making the drink itself, I wouldn't expect her to look friendly, there's a level to how ridiculously friendly I want the service personnel to be and the requirement to look like she's enjoying her job as she's preparing my drink is not necessary, but she didn't look happy.

When she finally completes the order, I thought she would at least smile when she hands me my drinks, but NOPE! She passes it to me with that same exact look on her face. The "why the fuck am I serving this person when I can be so much more" look. So I just took my drink and went to withdraw money from the nearby ATM, feeling quite unhappy with the service I had received. 

When I looked back at the store again as I was queuing up at the ATM, she had apparently forgone her "Chip Stuffing Ritual to look as close to a hamster as possible" and was instead busy talking to the Eurasian girl, probably gossiping about the new Potato Chips Cold Storage would be selling and giving the Eurasian girl tips on how to really stuff as much potato chips in your mouth without damaging it, which would be ironic seeing how her mouth has obviously been damaged, that why she couldn't even smile for more than half a second. 

Then I got Plain Vanilla Cupcakes and well, I have nothing to complain about their service. It was alright, compared to the Boost chick, it was more than alright.


* I went back to Boost a few days later and got another drink, this time the server was different, she was not as unpleasant, but honestly, when you want your customers to "go to the left" so they don't obstruct the queue after they made their order, maybe don't say it in a commanding tone. I felt like I was a recruit back in BMT being ordered by my sergeant to keep right or he will ask me to knock it down.


Lesson learnt, being a polite customer to any Boost employee in the future is unnecessary. Unless they are able to greet me like a proper server should, I'm just going to remain generally unfriendly and unapproachable.


"I want my juice, so make me my fucking juice." *throws $10 bills in her face* "Boost me up! Bitch! And don't you go throwing your nose shit into the blender because I'm watching you."

Meet Up

Had a farewell get together yesterday with a friend from the bakery and I have to admit, prior to the meet up, I was really contemplating to find an excuse and just back out from the meet up.





The initial plan was to just meet up with her and another colleague, a small gathering where only those who were comfortable with each other were invited, that meant my sous chef wasn't invited because every meet up that includes him always just ends up being uncomfortably awkward, us struggling to find topics to get rid of the awkward silences, it's really quite torturous and in the past I never really said anything to my friend because they are friends and I always thought maybe I'm the one overthinking things, but after the last encounter with my Sous Chef in Phoon Huat, with him avoiding me after he has obviously seen me, I realize the feelings I had towards him were mutual, and that is that even though we don't dislike each other, if given a choice, we would rather not hang out with each other.




About 2 days before the meet up, I was quite happy with the arrangements, I thought, finally, this might be the meet up that won't end up with everyone sitting awkwardly, my friend won't have to constantly struggle to find new topics to talk about and I won't be constantly dreaming of this meet up to be over and done with so I can go home and tell myself I'm never meeting them as a group again. But all that happy thoughts changed when my friend decided to ask me if it was alright to invite some other colleagues of hers over, they worked at the bakery too but they were the service crew, so I've never met them before.





Seeing how she was struggling to meet up with all her friends before going for her almost year long trip overseas, I begrudgingly agreed with her arrangements, she was grateful to my agreement but I was not really excited about the meet up anymore.





For the past 2 days after the change of plans, I was seriously contemplating whether to go for the meet up or not, because the four of them are quite close and I would be the odd one out, if the 3 weeks working in the Interior Design firm has taught me anything, it's that trying to fit into a clique of close female friends always almost never works, there would always be inside jokes and topics only they can understand and discuss in explicit boring details,  so naturally, being turned off by that potential prospect of feeling like the odd one out, it's like most of the meet ups I have ever had with my Secondary School clique, oh the memories, so I was cooking up excuses in my head that would allow me to not show up, excuses that would probably work like...





"Oh my Dad is overseas so I might not be able to join you guys, I have to stay in the office to make sure everything is alright." - Bullshit, except the part about my Dad being overseas, everything else is lies. I'm really not that important that my absence would cause the company to suddenly lose traction and fall off the rails of success.




"Sorry, I'm think I might be falling sick."  - Because I had constipation for 2 days. It's fine now but I did spend the last few days just squeezing nothing out in the toilet.



On the day itself, I finally decided, fuck it, I'm just going to go for the meet up, she's going to be overseas for almost a year, the least I could do as a friend is to show up for her farewell get together. I know her and she's not someone who would just let someone she invited on a gathering she planned to feel left out, so even if her friends don't talk to me, I knew she would make an effort to try and make me feel involve.




We met in Bugis Station and I was finally able to take the new Downtown Line. It's awesome how now it just takes me 20 minutes to reach Bugis when in the past, it would take almost an hour. I managed to reach the place 15 minutes early, so I went to Kinokuniya to looks at some books and see if there are any interesting reads I can get for my kindle, that and also because Kinokuniya is nice and empty, better than waiting at the control station, especially crowded because it's peak hour.



After about 15 to 20 minutes of looking at the same bunch of books, I finally got a call from my friend who informed me to meet her at the control station. I made my way over, not feeling very excited about the potential awkwardness that would ensue between me and her friends. We exchanged awkward hellos with each other when I saw them and really for the next 10 minutes, I was just talking to my friends while hers were talking to each other, all four of us headed to the bus stop and met up with another one and then made our way to the cafe for our dinner.



I really wanted to try and start a conversation with one of them initially and I was very close to going up to her and asking...

"So are you studying now? Which school?"

I didn't know how old she was, all I heard from my friend was that she was slightly older than her, so I  assumed she might probably be my age. 25 to 26 years old, an age where being a university student is still plausible. In the end, I didn't initiate conversation with her and just continued conversations with my friend while the 3 other girls catch up with each other. At one point, one of the 3 girls came up to my friend and started talking to her, I planted myself in the middle of them, so even though I wasn't technically part of the conversation, I still felt like I was, it's a lot better than trailing behind, my permanent position when I go for meet ups with my Secondary School friends and that is why I no longer meet up with them.

When we finally reached the place, it was packed, my friends had made reservations but that didn't really mean anything, because no seats were available except for the ones outside, and we weren't interested, my back was already drenched in sweat and probably in the midst of emitting my signature body odor, the last thing I wanted to do was sit outside  and sweat even more, so we told the waitress we would rather dine inside, we had to wait, but the waitress assured us that it wouldn't be long because the diners who were occupying the 5 seated table were about to leave soon. 

We looked at the menu for a few minutes and scanned at the different items they offered, deciding what would be best, 5 minutes later, I was the only one left scanning the menu while the 4 girls started talking amongst themselves. 10 minutes later, the waitress comes over and asks us...

"Would you all like to dine outside instead because the diners inside just ordered desserts so they will take a while."

And we were ushered to the outside table, the table wasn't stable and the chairs felt like they would give in and collapse at any moment. I had to put my bag on my lap because it was a stool without a back rest, my bag probably reeked, so I didn't want to put in on the spare chair that was at the other end and put the girls through the unpleasant smell of my back(bag) sweat. 

I ordered a salad and all the girls ordered a burger, its like reversal of roles but not really because this is Singapore, and very rarely does anyone in Singapore eat like a basic white girl, except me I guess, with my salad for dinner and my Starbucks literally right next to me as I am typing out this post.

Iced Chestnut White Chocolate Truffle. Not bad, very sweet so it completely overpowers the coffee taste, which is always great because the last thing this bitter individual needs is bitter coffee. The barista actually asked me if I wanted whipped cream and I said yes, only to realize it's actually fucking gross to have whipped cream on a Iced Coffee drink, luckily he forgot to add the whipped cream in the end. His very mild incompetence worked in my favor. 

I digress...

The girls were all surprised when they realized I ordered a plate of salad, and really, that became the ice breaker because I started to take part in their conversations and actually had a good time,  they laughed at my jokes (comments really that was meant to be humorous because I don't just start a conversation by telling a Knock! Knock! joke) and really, anyone who laughs at my jokes, I instantly like them, that probably explains why I really disliked my Interior Design firm colleagues, it's like they don't understand sarcasm, it just flies right past their heads, that's how you know someone is really fucking stupid. When I jokingly said I wanted to give up on building a chair that I was having some difficulty with, one of em cunts actually took that literally and saw me as "someone who gives up easily" when she was preaching to me a few days later, her fucking words, even though I did complete building the chair prior to her giving me her take on my personality and characteristics.

They talked about their time at the bakery, about the head chef, talked about my friends trip and everyone there was able to keep the conversation flowing, which meant there wasn't too much awkward silences to make it uncomfortable. At one point, one of the girls started asking us how old we were, she was the girl I was actually planning to start a conversation with earlier, and thank gawd I didn't because I find out during dinner that she wasn't in her mid 20s, she was already in her early 30s, when my friend said she was a little older, I wasn't expecting a 6 to 7 year age difference, so that was quite a shock. 

After dinner, we made our way through Haji Lane, they talked while I listen, barely able to really hear much because of all the loud music going on at the stretch of bars, and when we finally made our way out of Haji Lane, we headed back to Bugis for Boost. I got the drink called Mint Condition, which I'm never ordering again because I ended up having more salads from the greens that weren't completely pulverized into juice during the blending process, it was unpleasant sucking up chunks of greens with every sip and the taste of celery was so strong it just made the whole "oh I ordered this green stuff cos it's good for bowel movement" excuse not worth it at all. 

When we were finally done, it was time to head home. The goodbye I have to admit was awkward, 2 of the girls were still trying to finish their boost, so they ended up furiously drinking their drink next to a bin at the escalator while my friend, her friend and I waited at the control station, we chatted a bit and my friend turns to me and ask if this meeting was awkward, I replied honestly and told her it wasn't, because it honestly when better than I thought it would, the 2 girls joined us once they were done with their boost and then for some reason, everyone just stopped talking, it was probably like 5 seconds but it felt like 30 seconds, seeing how awkward the silence was getting, with everyone just looking at each other and hoping someone would start talking soon, I just pointed at the direction I was going and told everyone I was leaving, we exchanged goodbyes and I went back home via the Downtown Line. 

It was a pleasant meet up, a lot better than the meet ups I had that included my sous chef that was always marred by awkward silences.