emptiness

i like this friendster blog of mine very very much

it may be very simple, a blank background, uncolourful fonts, few photos, no music and videos

but this blog portrayed what i wanted to express

this place contains my many memories of the past one year

important posts, particularly the one named -feeling faraway-

i will miss this place, but this may not be my last post

hereby big thanks for all the comments posted by anyone, though i may not have replied them, i read and enjoyed every single of them. appreciated them all~

mainly, no more irritating friendster blog email updates for you pple!

http://slippers1314.wordpress.com

Gomenasai for those wondering if i am still alive somewhere, i have been away for too long. too much has happened, details can’t be enclosed, ask moi in person-to if ur interested heh. is just too busy and tired the past 2 wks.

backtrack to 1st of October. watched Rob-B-Hood with sec sch khakis.

warning: extreme hilarious. do not choke on ur popcorns or nachos when u see Louis Koo and Jackie Chan gaying under the sun. do not feel disgusted, when you see Jackie Chan toying around with baby pooh, and sacrificing his nipples for the baby’s suckle.

recommended if you love babies and Louis Koo.

backtrack to 3rd October. Carl’s Junior night out with HK khakis at Marina Square. the burgers there are gigantic. the fun we had were gigantic too.

backtrack to 5th October. went basketballing with my colleague Loven at kembangan after work.

backtrack to 6rd October. super belated treat for Weiren at -New York New York-. had -ice mocha, vanilla float-. it has probably become my favourite beverage any restaurant can offer. i forgot the name of my main course, though.

Junda added 5 packets of sugar to his hot mocha. i wouldnt have needed that amount for coffee, let alone mocha. maybe he hasn’t heard about diabetes that lotsa. pretty sure he don’t know that diabetes can lead to amputation of his beloved legs in the long run too. watch out, my fren!

backtrack to last Sunday. my last day at Golfers’ Terrace. Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong came for a golf game in the morning. his team of security was so exaggerating. the whole event turned out to be a comical sight from my point of view.

they checked beneath table for weapons, and all were within 10 steps radius to him while he had his Tee-off break at his table.

not to mention their expressions. it was as though the whole world owes them money or something. and i swear, one of the many bags they carry must have contained a bomb defuser.

they might as well test the iced water that we serve to mr Goh Chok Tong with a silver pin, and see if it changes color or something. it may be able to bring their protection campaign to greater heights.

but well, since they must be paid tons of bucks to do their job, they are just being "better safe than sorry". for me, i had a gd time laughing my head off everytime i pass by one of the bodyguards.

backtrack to last sat. was down at Bugis Junction with Zi Cheng and Weiren. it was the ultimate wrong place to visit on a sat afternoon. we dropped the idea of eating lunch there anyway plus i was on budget and headed down to waterloo street.

On our way out of the Junction we saw y.e.s 933 DJs Chong Qing and Peifen hosting an event for a slimming outlet which i forgot the name. yes Peifen is definitely more than just pretty. too bad la, Zi Cheng, she’s attached.

we prayed at the -Si Ma Lu- temple, ate at the market place hawker, and awww what a pity the -Tau Suan- stall was closed. back we went to Bugis where Zi Cheng intended to shop for clothes.

Bugis Junction is a place you can go if you want to bump into frens. i came out of Edge and saw Grace sitting there with her group of gals. next i saw Shuhui with her mum shopping near the neo-print store. two different click of frens bumped into under the same building was something new for me.

Luis, Elvis and Tammie joined us and we sat down at Mos burger before heading to National Library.

me: "why go National Library?"

Zi Cheng: "sat aftnoon mah, see whether got Chio Bu around anot?"

me: "sat aftnoon got Chio Bu go National Library one meh?"

true enough, he saw none while i admired the evening scenery at the 11th floor.

it was night time when we returned to Bugis Junction yet again for dinner with Why Chen, Gary and Qiuping and Jeremy at Terra. it was for Why Chen Jie’s birthday! had a great time catching up with them on their university lives. i had enormous fun time teasing Qiuping about her studying at N.I.E and becoming a teacher.

me [to Elvis] : "she cannot reach the top of the whiteboard leh."

Elvis [to me] : "you think she can pull down the o.h.p screen aso?" [ both of us broke down giggling, much to Qiuping's annoyance ]

Qiuping: "i now got 151cm liao lor!" [ to the ignorance of us both ]

lol.

there was also something on her weight part but she will skin me alive if i so much breathe a word about it. anyway the food at Terra was rather standard. their drinks menu’s quite comprehensive but expensive, with any drink at least a $4.80. yes even a cup of expresso. i love the -ice mocha, vanilla- though! darn nice. there’s mocktails like -pussyfoot- and other chim chim names.

Jeremy [ he came late ] : "what drinks nice ah?"

me : "well, you can try the -pussyfoot- there, sounds special."

Jeremy : "woah. can i order in Hokkien?" [ ><" ]

nevertheless, such nights are really rare and memorable, where this sec sch khakis can take time off together and have fun.

it was movie time at Luis house [ he got an entertainment room there ] but i couldnt join them all the way bcos i had to wake up at 5am the next day for work.

i left Luis house that night wondering how Zi Cheng does the pinball cheat. using that cheat, all he needs to do is just drag the pinball with the mouse and the ball goes wherever he wants! damn xD

i suggest, dun bother to read this post. its just more complaints and all unproductive, unmeaning crap.

they asked: how’s your internship [part 5]

i didnt know Golfers’ Terrace has such an inefficient management system. how the hell can it be that you go to work and find out that you dun have a uniform to wear for your work?

apparently, the laundry department havent finish washing yet. then, one of the staff just asked me to wear a green female polo tee for work.

there are some things that you must never ask a guy to do. one of them asking a guy to wear a female’s tee. i am not big on male ego or something, but more importantly, the tee is not the uniform for Golfers’ Terrace work. its for other work or department elsewhere in the building. the other thing is, the female tee has the owner’s name on the collar tag. not really polite to wear someone’s else uniform without asking right.

i had no choice. felt so pissed and awkward thru out the 1 hour in the tee before the clean actual male uniform arrived.

today i was posted to this Auxiliary guest house situated out in the Serapong Golf Course for two hours. more than enough to make me vomit blood and burst my arteries. this auntie working in the bar, she treats me like a 3-year old kid who duno anything about waitering. i swear, she lectured me for a full 5 minutes on how to wipe a table properly. and literally everything else that i do, she has to have a say on how it should be done. [pls get a life man, i have been doing waitering since i was in sec 2, i dun need a unqualified bartender to teach how to do waitering]

how often do i have to get pissed off in one day? even for my well-levelled of tolerance, i had to keep my hands inside my pockets to keep myself from slapping the auntie and ask her to shut up.

and this fark-up China guest who sneered at me when i went up to serve him. just bcos i repeated his orders to make sure i get them right, he asked in a mocking tone, "xiao di, your first day of work ah?" he had the -i look down on you- face.

how am i supposed to hear him properly with his broken and heavy Chinese accent-toned "English". its what you should do if you are unclear about a guest’s orders and repeat to make sure you dun serve the wrong food items. just one of the many moronic members of the Golf Club who doesnt understand this.

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i forgot when was the last time i smiled sincerely at a guest in Golfers’ Terrace.

it was all about putting up a nice show during work. here is the place that i must vent out everything.

it just barely keeps me from screaming out in frustration during busy afternoons at Golfers’ Terrace.

gee. time really flies. yesterday, 20th of sept, was the one year anniversary of this blog.

this was my first ever post on 20th sept of 2005 :-

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the clock that transcends through the passage of time

starts moving in the anti-clockwise direction

back to the dimension when i first met you

it came to a standstill

forget   forgot   forgotten

i can’t.

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these words, i still feel the much for them as i did a year ago.

but, now that i look back, maybe i should say,

forget   forgot   forgotten

i finally can.

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those who had been here, who maybe only browsed thru a post

or, those who had been accompanying me thru all my complaints or happenings

regardless of which, i hereby extend my appreciation.

i may not know if you have been here, but if you did, thanks

and before i end this long-winded and sorta mushy post, i hereby apologise if you find frequent email updates on this blog irritating. well, they would have send an email already the moment i press "save" on this very post. however you can change the settings at the top right hand corner of your friendster homepage under "recieve notification emails" to solve this annoyance [would also mean that you won't receive anyone's update email as well].

lastly, wanna wish Why Chen Jie a very happy 19th birthday! -dear Sis, take care and all the best!-

they asked: how’s you internship [ part 4 ]

some time ago, Executive Tracy talked about having a sense of belonging to Golfers’ Terrace and to address obstacles to achieving that feel.

thanks to that, i finally, only after two weeks of working, got a personal locker. before that my bag’s taking all the risk under pple’s desks where they may get lost or stolen. so much of being labelled as "Golfers’ Terrace Trainee". its not as nice as it sounds.

my mother and aunt could not understand why i was doing waitering for my attachment. they asked, "arent you supposed to be learning management or marketing stuff instead?"

a colleague that i made frens with, who was working part-time at Golfers’ Terrace, said, "you work here as waiter for your attachment? what the heck. a school drop-out can also come and do waitering lor. a diploma holder’s brains can be put into better use than to do waitering right?"

Management Trainee a.k.a Executive-to-be Loven told me something that i found to be so true.

"hey bro, dun work so hard ya. no one appreciates it".

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several tips for being a considerate guest in Golfers’ Terrace:

1. pls for Pete’s sake do not stand in the way of a waiter when he has his hands full of dirty plates and cutleries that are atrociously heavy.

2. do not farking yell and scream at a waiter for assistance when he is trying to balance on a tray full of tall glasses and heavy beer mugs.

3. do not forget that waiters are also humans and are on equal stands with a guest on humanical basis. they are just there to serve you and they are definitely not tools that you vent frustrations on. you losing your stupid golf game has nothing to do with the waiter.

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seems like it never crossed the mind of the person who designed the satay holding tray, not to make it so farking slippery.

last sunday night, went Marina Bay for Zhen Fa steamboat with a gang of pple consisting of Malcolm, Jiamin, Peihuan, Amber, Yuwei, Grace, Junda and Lex. its the group that have gone thru thick and thin during the hk study trip.

gomenasai~ i know, i know! i was very late that evening. felt the "sha qi" in everyone’s face when i gave my -so apologetic- smile as i showed up 45 mins late.

and in we went, armed with bottles of drinks that we smuggled in to fight dehydration and monetary de-pocketation from the drink stall there.

had a great time la, basically. its a normal routine of feast, especially prawns. no offence, but Zhen Fa’s staff look so intimidating man. all without smiles and full of frowns. liven up! ahaha.

took many photos as usual. with this group there’s always a phototaking session. Malcolm pulls it off again with his fantastic camera tripod stand! the very important tool that beats getting a stranger to take the photo for us.

Malcolm pulls it off yet again with his fantastic knowledge of bus and train schedule! ahaha. thus, of cos, thanks to him,  we caught the last bus and train bound home in perfect timing.

i do look forward to the next outing with this bunch of new-found friends. yeah!

they asked: how’s your internship [ part 3 ]

the uniform.

i need a damn, S-sized uniform. they dun have enough. they barely have S-sized uniforms. been a hassle trying to serve tall glasses on slippery trays with the ends of the sleeves tugging at your elbows. i swear the uniform that i wore today was at least L-sized.

[ ps: golfers' terrace uniforms do not have sizes indicated on the shirt. it is basically rojak. you pick a uniform, compare with another, and you tell the size by the difference. ]

the working hours

they rearranged my roster hours. longer break time, later dismissal time. i dun need a longer break time. i definitely need a earlier dismissal time. the rearrangement is to suit the 44 hours requirement of the stupid attachment.

what’s happening is, i am literally working as a full-time server for my attachment with only an approx. $4.5 per hour pay. part-timers’ rate is $6 per hour. even my OT pay [ $5 per hour ] is less than their regular pay. how sad is that.

then, you have to work very hard, probably harder than the part-timer, despite pay difference, just bcos its a stupid attachment and that they may give you poor grades should you show your ugly dying face with slack working attitude in front of them.

you’ll rather be a part-timer too, right.

oops. just realised that i accidentally closed the comments section of the blog. no wonder recently no comments came in. it is now re-opened. gomenasai!

they asked: how’s your internship [ part 2 ]

i wouldnt say the uniform of Golfers’ Terrace is ugly. they are just much more than -not nice- somewhere between the two descriptions la. certainly many of the part-timers there agree in full hand-raised position.

anyway i didnt have chance to take photos. next time i’ll show some to support my claim.

time passes freaking slow in Golfer’s Terrace. when one is free and just standing by the table, an hour is like a day. when one is busy serving guests, and he naturally thinks that time passes faster when he is busy, he realised he was just being naive.

an hour is still, always, forever, like a day.

thus, of cos, i prefer non-busy period. since it makes no difference.

Golfers’ Terrace needs some Ergonomics in its working environment. its more than just being convenient, it saves my energy that i so very very need it when i have to run everywhere to do more than what i am supposed to do.

alot of hidden meaning? never mind about that. just have the rough idea that i am being very -happy- and -contented- working there.

as if bad news come in a couple, the -screw- of business came up with a marvellous idea of re-arranging my class for the coming semester.

currently, my class has only 8 pathetic people left after the disneyland and finland itp saga. the business -screw- just have to divide these 8 people into two groups of 4 and have them in two different classes.

now, that is a very, very, very bad idea. why separate us man? as if 8 people werent small enough. cannot even spend the last remaining semester with all that’s left of my classmates urh.

frankly speaking, that is nothing to look forward to in the days to come. i cannot find any sort of motivation that can help me pass my five months comfortably, be it school or work.

the advertisement song came on the TV. "always look on….the bright side of life!!"

bullshit.

today, went bugis junction to meet Zhiwei and Shuhui. managed to catch -The Host- for the 2.30 time slot. previously, Lex told me that this show was very funny, despite what i heard about it being a horror movie on monsters.

and gee, was he right! haha, i had a great time laughing away at some of the scenes during the movie. seriously, the lead actor had an entertaining way of talking.

on the minor, the movie plot was very simple, with also a simple meaning that the movie portrayed. the love between father and son, father and daughter, and how united the family became, it touched me just.

something i couldnt figure out. the monster captured the little girl at the beginning of the movie, and i guess those who had watched will agree that the monster had no intention of eating the girl. how come it only decided to eat her near the end of the movie. hmm.

the monster died a terrible death, duh. but i wouldnt say it was exactly a good ending, cos some of the family members lost their lives too.

it was early dinner at V8 movies cafe after the show before we ended our little gathering. a pity that Mark couldnt join us. i want ice-cream from him too! ahaha.