POSB Community Service Day

I did not sign up for this year's Army Half Marathon.
I thought I would be able to sleep in as a result.
Until...

I signed up for a morning with the animals at the Singapore Zoo.

It was a trip to the zoo for students from Student Care Services (SCS), organised by title sponser, POSB. I got the chance to join as a volunteer at the Hougang branch of SCS.

It was tough waking up at 6+ in the morning so that I could reach Hougang SCS by 7. I was late; but then again, only Xin Hui was on time... Haha...

It was tough trying to organise a roomful of screaming kids into the four groups they were pre-allocated for attendance-taking and distribution of group identification stickers and event T-shirts. We only managed to depart at 08:15am after settling the above tasks and other miscellaneous stuff such as getting the kids to change into the T-shirts, etc... Our speed was pretty OK until you consider that we had planned to leave at 07:30am. Some kids started complaining as a result.

The trip was pretty uneventful, in a negative way. The highlight was probably the magic show by 'Danny the Magic Prince'. We did not see a lot of animals as the planned route was pretty short.

Overall, there were a few things that stood out(for me):
1. There was this wolf which kept pacing up and down in its relatively small enclosure and it seemed to be in distraught.
2. There were so many free goodies in the TWO goodies bags given. Too much of a good thing can be bad. We ended up with many dimunitive kids carrying bags which even I think is heavy.
3. I thought there was too much POSB propaganda going on during the event.
4. The emcee keeps speaking in English that is too good for the children to understand. I'm not sure some of the children know what a 'washroom' is... And since the event was organised for the kids, it makes sense to speak at a level that is comfortable to them, not the adult volunteers.

Oh dear... I'm really tired... I was typing a load of gibberish which I've deleted, of course...

Good Night!

Two weeks of blur-ness

There's been so much going on in the past two weeks... I can hardly catch my breath. As such, all entires from today onwards till at least the end of this month will be kept brief, while I try to catch my breath. And some much-needed rest.

The lack of rest is probably the main reason for the numerous silly mistakes I've been making lately, and it's been such a hassle trying to correct the errors. I really do not have much spare time left for such ineffective use of time. Then again, I'm blogging now, and Peter will probably categorise this under his list of time-wasting activities... Haha...

Recent results have been pretty encouraging, though disappointments are still common. It's downright frustrating when people portray untrue interest, raising your hopes to the sky, only for you to fall flat on your face, wondering why you have been such a fool, when you realise the deceit. Or how about those people who proclaim interest, yet seem to treat their phones as fashionable accessories and nothing more since their phones seemed to be off 23hrs and 58mins everyday. Then there are those whom I maintain the hope of hearing their wonderful voices because their phones seem to be on 24hrs a day. The only problem with such species is that half the time, the line is engaged; the rest of the time, no one answers the phone.

I need just one lucky minute everyday to more than double my appointment count for next week.

I wonder if that nice lady I met at Woodlands last week is still awake. I've never tried calling at 1:36am...

Personality test - http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

Taken from Cher's blog...

Get to know yourself better

Your view on yourself:You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on educationEducation is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.

Who is your true self:You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Confused

What would it be like if humans are more simple-minded? Perhaps intelligence is the biggest bane of all? Maybe the world as we know it and live in is just an illusion? Possibly all that we see, smell, hear, and feel is just a massive dream?

Could it be that, nothing really matters?

I don't know.

I'm still dreaming, running, chasing after all that little spots of light in this foggy cave.

Will I get there?





Or will they get me?

Blur queen

My manager can be really blur at times. Scaringly blur.

She was giving me a ride home earlier after a coaching session at AMK. Having stopped at a traffic junction, she inexplicably started moving off even though the lights were still red. And she wasn't trying to beat the red light - she drove across the junction at not more than 30km/hr!

Apparently, she thought the light had turned green. I thought she was possessed. The other drivers at the junction probably thought she was mad. The way she drove across, you would think the road was owned by her grandpa. Thankfully there were no cars driving in the perpendicular passageways.

Her other blur moments - such as fixing appointments at the same time, same day; forgetting to inform us of important news - seem so trivial in comparison.

Did she extend her 'license to be blur' without informing us?

I would not be surprised.

P.S. My manager is a very nice lady. Her occasional inexplicable acts and amnesia is probably the result of a tired brain.

13/07/07

Friday the 13th was a very memorable day.

It was the first time I see so much smoke in my house. The neighbours probably thought my house was on fire.

It was also the first time I see charred baos.

Basically, I set the oven for three minutes when one minute would have suffice, according to mum. The two buns were still simmering when I opened the oven door. And the smoke would continue to permeate the house for the rest of the day and the next.

I was only partially successful in removing the stubborn stains that had resulted from the catastrophy. The interiors of the microwave oven remained yellowish despite half an hour of wiping with detergent.

And to think I was the one who taught mum how to use the microwave - through my own understanding of the icons since the manual was not very helpful.

Friday the 13th was a very memorable day.

I'm Back!

Wow! I had so much fun! Peiling should have joined Jack Neo's J-Team. She could be the queen of humour in Singapore with her super comedic performance in the skit. Ren Cheng's turn as Michelle the sister with the split personality was hilarious as well, not due to the acting but more because of the overall appearance and unintended wardrobe malfunction. Haha! What a night, and how close we were from a prize - only 8 points away from 3rd place...

Food wasn't always up to expectation. While it was satisfactory or better on most occasions, lunch never fail to disappoint. Thankfully, there's always fresh, juicy fruits (watermelon, pineapple, honeydew) and cakes to fall back on. Lunch on Day 2 was the worse; the baffling thing was how they served crispy fried chicken wings for afternoon tea break. I thought if they had served that earlier, I would have eaten more at lunch...

Gillain is such an amazing lady. She must be incredibly motivated to be able to maintain such high standards for so many years. Compared to her performance, my targets seemed like a joke. Still, as Sherlyn says, I'm just putting unnecessary pressure on myself with such unrealistic comparisons. Afterall, she's very experienced and I've just started not long ago. I guess everyone's got his own race to run, and we should concentrate on completing it. When others run a better race than us, we should congratulate them and carry on our own race. We should not be discouraged by our relative lack of achievement and give up. Everyone has different abilities and what is most important is that we put in full effort in achieving our own goals. I wonder if I can reach my goal?

Ren Cheng surprised me when he mentioned about his family problems. It seems like many of the people in the organisation came from broken families. I feel so fortunate to still have my parents around. It's a blessing.