Taking Unpaid Leave for Exams Preparation

As per last sem, I am taking unpaid leave to study for my exams. My exams are starting in 2 weeks time, and I've a hell lot more of topics to go.

But happy that I dont have to go to work!! My 2 weeks of leave officially starts from today, and my first paper is 2 thursday from now. I will also take this opportunity to catch up on my sleep, which is totally acceptable, because I gain 4 hours a day by not traveling to and fro work, and by not needing to shower twice a day. Need not makeup too! Need not wash contact lens too! And need not iron clothes!! And also have no work clothes to wash!!! =) =)

Yay~~ \o/

I guess I'll come back in 2 days time to complain about mugging for exams. Hahahah.

Shopping. More to go.

New clothes! New clothes! New clothes!~~

*Dances*

English Exam over

One might ask how come it is essential to study english language in a management course. Certainly it is important, because only then will we be able to write with proper structuring and precise grammar.

The paper isnt easy, but I'm glad it is over. Yay. One more paper to go.
\o/

Studying. And resting.

So. I am currently on leave for 11 days to catch up on my exams. Obviously I am not exactly studying every hour, how boring that would be.

Instead, I'm happily catching up on my sleep.

=D =D =D =D

Personal Time

I had always been a person who needs a lot of personal time. I like to be able to snuggle in a sofa with a good book or magazine, and I like to be able to sit in front of a computer, playing games without people telling me I am wasting my time.

But ever since I’d started taking this part time course, my time had been sapped away from me. Suddenly I have no more time for myself, because all the spare time I have outside work and school is spent with friends and family, and my me-time was the first to go.

So I am trying to squeeze in time for my own, and I am ridiculously happy when my friends are late when we’d arranged to meet, or when they have to cancel on me. In the first scenario, suddenly I found myself having time to drink coffee alone in starbucks, accompanied with a magazine that I speedily picked up from the newsstand.

In the latter, I take solace that I’d attempted to meet friends and it is them who cannot make it. Only then they have no reason to fault me if they stop and think and realize that we hadn’t meet for the longest period of time.

Sigh. Where can I regain my lost time? I’ve got so much to blog but so little time. But today and tomorrow are my revision-time and self-designated me-time, and I will blog in my Microsoft Word without internet connection (Low willpower! Don’t take the chance!) and then publish them later.

Oh, by the way, I am devastated to find out that my alter ego blog personality that I hosted on blogsome is gone. Must be that I hadn’t log in for more than a year. But why didn’t anyone send me a warning email? Sigh. I want my entries back lah.. Cries.

I hope blogger never does that to me.

Hong Kong trip

We were at Hong Kong for 3 days in total, and by avoiding disneyland and ocean park, we were able to cover quite a lot of major attractions.

We reached HK at about 11am, and subsequently reached hotel (Royal Park @ ShaTin, lovely room) at 1pm. Lunch was dim sum! Yay happiness! =) We then took a walk at Loi Yan Gai, but because it was raining, I was super grouchy and have absolutely no mood to look at anything!

So we moved on.

Bank of China building by I.M Pei is always featured in TV shows, and seeing it in real is one of the important milestones in this trip.

From here, we went up to the peak, wanting to enjoy the spectacular view of Hong Kong. The journey uphill in on a tram where it is like a 45 degrees mountain scale. But the weather was too bad to see anything, therefore we didnt see any view at all.




I skipped Madame Trussauds because I had already seen it at Shanghai.


It feels like it is drizzling on the peak, but I know it is because the cold air is condensing on us and it feels cool and refreshing.

Nothing can be seen, therefore we left the place and went to Kowloon Tong and then went to Walk of Fame, and managed to catch the 'Light Symphony'.


On second day, we started off with a visit to the museum - Hong Kong Heritage Museum. I am super glad my friend is as interested in museums, or I will have to abandon him for the sake of wanting to indulging in some culture depths.

We then went down to Macau via ferry to look at Da San Ba - The Ruins of St Pauls.

Love it.

Then we had portugese egg tarts and yu dan (fishballs in curry sauce).

We then went down to Lan Kwai Fong for drinks and finger food. Strawberry margarita and chicken fillets. Yum.



Then at the end of the day, when I passed by the Coach flagship store, and was totally enchanted by the facade design. =)






We went back to Loi Yan Gai to shop again, and then tasted the tasty mango ice in Xu Liu Shan.



On the final day, we went down to see the Hong Kong Coliseum in real. And then wanted to visit the nearby Hong Kong Museum of History, but it was closed for the day. So we thought maybe we can go to Lantau for the Ngong Ping 360, but we estimate it will take too long to go to and fro.





Oh, one more photo on the typical housing blocks in Hong Kong.





The entire trip was very tiring, honestly, but I am happy to be able to cover so much within such a short period of trip.

Am Back

I'm back from HK. Super tired.

It's my friend's birthday today and I'd spent the whole of last night at her house, meeting her friends, playing games.

Mustafa, the game's called, and it is hilarious. I dont remember the last time I had so much fun. It must have been years, since poly chalet.

=)

Happy birthday, dear~.

Rain and flood

It was raining very heavy now, and the roads downstairs are totally flooded.

Perfect afternoon for sleeping in. =)

Retail therapy II

I bought a pretty dress!

*Dance around*

One thousand!

3 years and 7 months ago I'd created this blog, writing entries on whim and creating a platform for my friends to catch up on my happenings.

This entry marks the 1000th.

Calls for a celebration! =)

Looking forward to 2009

5 days to the end of this year.

Many things hadnt went well, but I guess I'd done all I could, and hence I've no regrets.

Next year onwards, I shall have 4 years of tiring days because I would be studying part time while working. One of the happiest things that happen this year, was how I really decided to pick up studying, after putting it off for so many years.

I will be studying business, something vastly different from my original design diploma, but I think I will not be able to work as a designer for too many years, given how the more time I spend in this career, the less new ideas I have.

When I eventually graduate from my business course, I wish I can work as business development department in some larger design companies.

Gambatte!

Other than that, this year, I'd learnt to love myself more. Period. You dont want to know the details la.

I'd also packed up my bedroom. Packed up as is total re-organizing, something I hadnt done in years. Usually I'll only pack a small section at a time, so this time it is a giant achievment for me.

Happy 2009 in advance! =)

Credit cards galore

I'd gotten my first credit cards today. =)

I'd never wanted to apply for them because I prefer to spend cold hard cash. But because of the need to pay for my SIM course, I had to pick up a credit card so as to utilize the 0% installment plans.

By the way, I am paying for my course sometime next week and expect to start lessons sometime in February. The next 4 years will be hell for me, I welcome constant encouraging smses / msn messages / emails to keep me going.

I'd gotten a Citi M1 Visa and a Citi Master Dividend. Next week my Citi Tangs card will also arrive. All three cards come with 3 years amf waiver, so I need not worry about them until nov 2011.

Will keep a note in my side bar to constantly remind me. =)

Welcome package

I received the welcome package from SIM already.

=)

I'm happy, but I also know I will have a hard time coping with schooling and working, and I am also worried about the money factor.

Will talk to my office manager on Monday and see how things goes.

So it seems I dont need anyone else

I was slogging on a project the whole of last week, the same one that Miss Confused is unable to finish the visuals of.

She was supposed to be helping me, but obviously she didnt.

Anyway, I am already resigned to the fact that I will never meet the perfect assistant, and I no longer imagine that I'd past the junior stage and can delegate work to my own juniors. Seems like being a senior or not, I will have to do Every! Single! Thing! myself.

However, I'd heard from the office manager this morning (all hush hush, I also dunno why she thinks Mr Boss shouldnt know about this) that Mr Boss paid compliments to the entire package of presentation materials that I'd submitted.

He verbally confirmed that he liked the design, the overseas partners like the design, and the clients love it too. There were some changes to be made, but nothing major.

He told our overseas team that all future material boards have to be done to my standard at a minimum and the powerpoint presentation slides that I'd compiled (it's client-specific, each slide is fresh, not drew from the deck) gave him high level of confidence when he was presenting to the clients.

He did tell me, later in the day, about how he is pleased with the package I compiled. He is appreciative of the work. Thank goodness.


Yes. It sucks when I am fighting wars alone, with no one to help. But at the same time, it is very satisfying to know that the time and effort was well spent.

Till the next round of shit, I'm going to gloat about this project. =)

Retail therapy

My shopping spree today is so rewarding! Plenty of great buys!

*Am a happy woman* =)

Lotus paste and gua zi

Mooncakes!

Nuff said.

I only take the traditional kind, white lotus paste with gua zi, and
without salted egg yolks please.

No snow skin, no birdnest, no chocolate and no whatever varieties
that promises to be an exciting tastebuds experience.

Euuuuuu.

So, shall I have mooncakes with chinese tea for dinner today?

(^^)v

A nice mentor

2 or 3 jobs ago, I worked in a bank as an officer, and my jobscope is mainly telephone based where I need to call up customers and update them of their account status.

I was working as a contract staff for a year, and time to time, there are temp staff who join us who are very apprehensive about making calls to the customers, especially when our bank customers are well known to be difficult. Heehee.

I get along perfectly well with these temps because I understand their frustration, and I solve their problems whenever I can.

Just now, one of these temps msn-ed me to tell me that she had just started in a new job and her mentor is very nice.

"first day of work..n my mentor's nice. reminds me of u. so i msg u to say hi"

Isnt that sweet? =)

I want to buy new handphone!

I'm thinking of changing handphone, and this time round it is for SE G900.

I will either get it for myself for my birthday, or sometime soon after that. But knowing my cheapskate way, I am likely to get it only on 1st August, when my M1 contract reaches 20th month, by which I neednt top up $100 on top of the plan price.

And 1st August is only 55 days away. I can wait, cant I? =)

Mid year bonus

Boss said today, that we can expect to receive a bonus next month, which will be like 5 days away, or 35 days to the end of next month.

Boss ask me and senior to keep it very hush hush, because not everyone will get the bonus.

I am not really concerned if the rest of the people gets their bonus, all I care about is that I get the bonus I deserve, and by saying deserve, I should be getting the second highest amount, after senior.

But between me to the next person, there should be a drastic bridge, because I did FAR more than her!

Sigh, I wish.


Aiyah, forget it la.. Dont care what the others get, but as long as I am given what's due, and this amount is no less than 2 months, I would be bery bery happy. =)

I cant wait!

Postnote: It was only a half-month bonus. CHEY!