Hey I just got myself a 14 inch TV for my room! Yay!

I actually had to call my brother to help me fix this thing. Sheesh.



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Finally. FINALLY I got the offensive toe nail rid off. It was pure torture to be on the operating table at the clinic but thankfully the doc was superb. It was a 10 minute job. I got injected at 5 places around my toe and it still hurt when he was pulling it out but I told myself it was gonna be worth it and it is. I'm so happy now I wanna kiss everyone.

I went on a mini shopping spree after that. I got some blue-themed toiletries to match the blue floor tiles in my bathroom, a new pair of sandals (threw the old ones immediately) and 2 pairs of Aussino bath towels.

I've been using army-issued bath towels for the last 3 years and I thought it's about damn time I got some proper ones. What better ones than ones from Aussino, no? We're talking major step up in class here. Ha Ha.

I met Dick. He's a happy sod. Got his dream handphone the Sony Ericsson T610 at last and I got his Nokia 6610. It's a great trade off for me. My old 8310 has served me well but after the bird flu, it just wasn't the same.



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I'll be on leave from work tomorrow.

I just got this list of company-assigned clinics from my supervisor yesterday. The timing is just about right coz when I applied for my leave 3 days ago, I was planning to see the doc about my toe infection.

I really wanna get this done and over with. I'm gonna ask the doc to pull my in-grown toe nail out. It's making me miserable. This is on top of my list.

And then there's the mini shopping of course. Apart from the usual grocery-shopping, I intend to get a few more stuff. I plan to get a pre-loved 14 inch Thomson TV from the Yahoo auction site, a pair of sandals, a wheel mouse for my 4th sis Liana and maybe, just maybe a sling bag too. Woohoo!

Nothing makes me happier like a spot of shopping!

And I'll be meeting my younger brother, Dick(no pun intended) before my class tomorrow evening. He wants me to trade in my Nokia 8310 mobile phone for a new Sony Eriksson T610. I'll then use his current Nokia 6610. I don't mind this arrangement at all. I prefer a Nokia anytime and I need the radio function to keep me company on my bus rides.

By the way, Liana just got me 3 CDs from local music artistes. She's a mini celebrity, Liana. She gets good deals from people in the media industry every now and then. She brought home a huge amount of CDs today. This would be my 1st CDs since 1999. I've been downloading music from the net ever since then. Ok ok, actually I've just been broke. Happy??? :D



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It's 7.15pm now. My mind is confused. There's a turmoil within me that has been the greatest hurdle to overcome lately.

I'm greatly bothered by a few things. If you were me, I should think you'd feel the same too.

My family is supposed to have a meeting right now at my house. It's about some legal issue which I feel is not right for me to disclose for the whole world to see but I'll see how it goes. My friends from M4M may know what I'm babbling about so maybe I'll post the verdict here later tonight. For those not in the know, I'll keep you guessing.

Then, there's the issue of work and studies as well.

Like Melody, I too feel my blog has been kinda depressing lately but I'm trying to keep it real.

Sigh...till later.

!Update!
So after much fiery debate, 2 members of my family have decided to meet a member of the other party and they've set aside this Saturday to discuss for a possible closure on the issue. This also means I may not be able to go for the M4M Anniversary at Bernadette's.





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My colleague just told me he's sooo relieved that I joined his department. Like a huge load of his shoulders... . Hey, what did I do? It's only my 2nd day. *tee hee*

That's an encouraging sign I hope.

Happy weekend y'all!



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I reported to my new department this morning.

As usual, these were some of the conversation that went on today...

"Wah you're so young..."

"Um, actually I'm 25 this August".

"Is it? But you look young..."

and then there were the...

"Aye, where did you learn to speak Chinese?"

or

"I didn't know you could speak Malay!"

and the

"...so what are you?!?!?"

...those sort of thing. Normal stuff. Quite annoying actually.

The guy who was teaching us 2 new birds (there was another new guy too) was relieved to know he didn't have to speak in English. Nothing against him. I wanted to make things easier for him so I told him he didn't have to do English if he wasn't comfortable. I did tell him though that my spoken Hokkien isn't as good as my Mandarin so I'd appreciate it if we settled on the latter.

The other new guy is Indian but he does Hokkien.

My 1st day there just flew by basically. It's not as hectic as doing air freight.



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I got the transfer! Yes! Yes! YES! <-- Pun intended *cheesy grin*

It takes effect tomorrow. Man, what a relief. Altogether now. "PHEW!"

Not everyone's happy about it though but hey, who cares? Go get a Happy Meal or something!

Ha ha! I didn't mean that but it sounded cool for 3 seconds.



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I'd like to thank my friends who come here often and leave all those wonderful encouragement. Truly appreciated. May God bless all of you.

Like Agnes mentioned earlier in the day, for a guy, I do whine a lot. Ha ha. But hey I'm a metrosexual guy. I have an excuse.

Then again, the last thing I want is for my blog to be a column for me to whine away. At least not always. Ha ha.

Ok so I politely asked the Big Boss if there's any opportunity for me to be transferred. I already knew that he'd have to think about it coz 2 out of the 3 guys in logistics have already tendered their resignations. Looking at how things were going today, it may juuuust go through.

!!! Hey guys, I'd like to take my mom out for a relaxation session like maybe spa, massage or something along that line. Would appreciate any referrals and advice. Tell me please. Danke schoen !!!



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I've been toying with the idea of asking for an internal transfer at my company. Of course there are concerns to be addressed but all in all I think it's a win-win situation for both Menlo Worldwide and I. I'm thinking of asking to be transferred to the logistics operations. Think now's a good time since I found out a few of their staff have already tendered their resignations.

In the distribution process, logistics ops come before airfreight.

On a personal note, sure I'd be getting less in nett salary with lesser OT but I'd have more time with school work at nights and on weekends while I slog it out in the weekdays. They work office hours. Period.

I'd like to earn more from OT in an ideal situation but I've been trying it out lately and I find it just sucks my energy out that when it comes to Sundays when I cramp ALL my schoolwork, I just can't focus enough. By the time it gets to Sunday, I just wanna sleep. I do my own chores like washing the toilet and laundry too so it's quite tough to squeeze in everything in a day.

I hope Menlo realizes that they've got a raw diamond on their side in me. I'm not asking for the impossible. I'm already paying for my own way in school and it's not cheap. 35% of my gross salary goes to paying off my course fees each month. Menlo is the way to go if I'm smart enough to realize it. It's a new player here in Singapore but it's big worldwide so there's plenty of area to grow.

It's a nice trade-off.



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I know a lot of people are wondering what's wrong with me this past week. Like Melody, work is the issue.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have a job but I'm still human hence I'm allowed to gripe. I don't really wanna emphasize as I think I'd bore you to your graves so I'll keep it short.

My concerns:

1. Lengthy travelling time to and fro home, work and school.

2. Transportation costs and constant change of buses to get to destination/s.

3. Long working hours are eating into my personal time. I don't need to go out. I'm perfectly happy living this mundane lifestyle but I need to spend more time on my books.

4. I've to tolerate my senior colleagues' instructions which collide half the time. I'm just like this clueless guy caught in a crossfire. Most times I just smile them off and walk away.

5. A lot of people around me don't understand that my education is as important as having a job. They think me going for lessons twice a week constitute to an adequate form of learning.

I need to chill out.



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Alright so judging by the last few responses on this meet up, Saturday afternoon is out, Sunday is definitely out and we'll stick to the original plan which is to make this into a private affair.

New proposal:

Time: Saturday evening

Date: 28th of Feb or 6th of Mar

Place: I'm thinking laid back, relaxed and chilled out like in some cafe. What kind of setting do you have in mind?

Gang: As per those who responded, Ratna (but of course!), Al, Agnes, Emerald, Sandra, Aida, Melody, Lilies (my sis) and of course your little loved ones are invited.

Note: Would Emerald, Sandra, Aida and Melody please pass me your email address? Thank you.



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Ok cool. I hope that this moms4moms meet up to celebrate (ha ha) Ratna's going away to Japan would work out.

I'm open to ideas as always. I'm thinking of making it on a Sunday evening either on the 29th of Feb or 7th of March. My 4th sister Liana suggested Cafe Iguana at the Riverside. She said it's an open air kids-friendly place and the prices aren't outrageous. Sounds good to me.

I think it's a good opportunity for us to finally put faces on names (and nicknames), what more with the woman who made it all possible as the Guest of Honour in a laid back setting.

What do you folks think?


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I dream of sitting back, chilling out, sipping on a cold beverage on a green wide open space with a not so overwhelming breeze and someone massaging my feet.

~~ Ladies, I'd like to take you guys out for a drink early March before Ratna goes off to Japan. Who's in? Please either leave me your email or your Yahoo Messenger ID if I don't already have it ok. Thanks a lot! ~~




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It's been a real packed day for me. I finally saw the GP this morning about my toe. He gave me lots of antibiotics to bring the infection and swelling down. It doesn't look like a toe right now.

I've decided to take an extra module at school starting this past week meaning I'm behind by a couple of chapters. I actually thought of completing my Advanced Diploma at a real snail's pace 1st and then decide after 3 months whether to increase my load.

I'm currently working in the air freight department of my company. We deal with import and export. As luck would have it, that extra module is called "International Transportation" and it covers what I'm doing now and thus very relevant.

I don't know what made me glance at my school time table last Sunday to come to this decision but I'm glad I did. I mean why would I look at it in the 1st place? I only need to go to class every Tue evenings prior to this! It couldn't get any more straightforward than that. Must be some big plan... .

I spent the whole day going through the first 2 chapters in IT (Int'l Transportation), completing the 2 home assignments that came with it, revising Chapter 4 of WM (Warehouse Management, my other module) as well as transferring my notes from Chapters 1-3 of WM into Word Format along with the rest.

Whew!

I can't go out this month. Can't afford to. But I hope to at least see the insides of a cinema again or go watch a play, a musical, sit by the park or picnic or something next month. I would die a happy man then.



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I finally met up with Kenneth, "my" insurance agent. Oh by the way, they're called all sorts of fancy names nowadays. His is Financial Services Consultant. He and the new insurance agents don't only sell insurance, they advice on other forms of investments as well.

I've decided to carry on with the Healthshield policy. It's about time I get some coverage for myself. Anyway, by giving him a stern warning I hope he understands that I'm gonna kick his lilly donkey if he screws me up for real. Heh heh. Yeah right. I didn't mean that. Ok, maybe not all. I'll just skip the "kick his lilly donkey part".

I also asked him a little about investments. You know. Equity, bonds, James Bond and stuff like that. Thank God I didn't sleep in Economics at school before!

I'm in this for the long term so short term fluctuations won't make me lose sleep. I don't like the idea of letting my CPF account sit right there on its fat bon bons like a tribal king.

I've narrowed it down to 5 types of which I'm particularly interested in the Greater China thingy. I'm not really investment-savvy but I think China is the way to go. Unless of course you beg to differ.



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People should stop adopting the "holier than thou" approach. Let's live and let live. We all die one day. Let's be good to one another.



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I left my warehouse at 5.30pm just now. I had effectively 1.5 hours to reach class at Dhoby Ghaut from the far, far east of Singapore.

The plan was to slip in dinner and to go grab a jar of Nescafe and a new cutter (pen knife) along the way.

The journey almost killed me...as always, but just now it nearly did for real.

I took the Changi North -> Terminal 2 switch at Tanah Merah switch again at City Hall -> Dhoby Ghaut combo but thanks to the huge amount of annoying train commuters in this country, I actually had to get out of the station at City Hall and take a bus from a stop which wasn't close by just to get to Dhoby Ghaut, one stop away!

Why must everyone behave like cows and rush in like that? Don't they have any sense of..any sense of...anything at all??? Must THE GOVERNMENT start fining people to make them queue in an orderly manner before they change???

What would it take?



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I have no idea nor clue as to how some of my colleagues manage to put in hours after HOURS of overtime at work. Some of them are there even before I reach work every day and tonight, during my 1st official OT (Woohoo!), I found out they go back later than me as well. They're still alive and kickin' when I was leaving. Man, they're making me look bad. Ha ha.

I talked to Chua. He's admirable. Super work ethic. He only had this to say when I asked why he was clocking so much OT, "When you have family, then you know".

Suddenly he seemed like this wise old sage with long, flowing white eye brows and moustache in the Chinese kung fu movies.

Oh.



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It's Ratna's turn to make fun of me. I have an oh so bad migraine. Vote me for Prime Minister in future. I vow to spend the whole damn health budget on a cure for migraine!



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January has just passed. It may not signify anything to anyone but it does to me. It means some decision-making is in order in my family as my friends from M4M forum may already know from my sister's posts. I don't wish to repeat it here.

Suddenly all other whines and rants and worries of mine pale in comparison priority-wise. So pretty boy's gonna be a little blue for a while.

Moving on.

I managed to allow myself a little retail therapy today. I went to IKEA since I was around the area anyway. Got some itty bitty stuff which I needed. Less than 10 bucks but being there has always been a happy experience for me. Like a bug-eyed kid in a candy store.

I finally got my HP PSC 1100 all in one printer. I was ecstatic. Woohoo! I thought I could finally get some work done. My school has been sending me short assignments on a daily basis and they've been accumulating in my email inbox.

The only problem is...I still don't have a computer.

Oh well.

!Achtung! - Alright this is great. In view of the current situation, Wang and Lilies have decided to sell me this very PC that I'm using now. Hooray! Wheeeee.....



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Went to my mom's place for lunch today. She lives with my 2nd sister Leita, her son and my younger brother.

Yesterday was Leita and her son's birthday. I didn't get Leita anything but I got him a cool water bottle. I didn't know and certainly didn't expect him to miss me so much. He was sticking to me like a leech the whole time I was there coz he said he missed me. My mom said he's been mentioning me very often for the past 3 days too.

Ha ha. I don't know why kids like to tug my shirt from the back and follow me everywhere I go ala choo choo train. It's so weird. Maybe it's a kids' thing. And it certainly broke my heart to see him so sad as I was leaving. He really was. He wanted to follow me home. Ha ha. Of course Leita freaked out.



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