New job

Today, I started another new job instead of working at the Starbucks. Reason? I didn't get too many shifts during the week. Every time I apply for three or more shifts per week, I always get only one. I guess it is due to low business around the area...guess the new Cathay is slowly losing its business...unless more human crowd can come to the place.

Anyway for the new job, I will be working in the office job (yah!). The job is quite easy to do, just help to fax documents, fold letters into envelope and just type some stuff on the computer. The pay is reasonable too, a bit higher than working at Starbucks. However, I will be working there for only abt 1 mth plus since I will be entering the uni soon...

I guess I have found my ideal temp job...working at the office in the air-conditioned room. Also, I get to work with the office girls there too as I am the only temp guy there...one of girls is quite chio...and one of them talks like Patricia Mok! (no offense there...)

DOTA

The game which I enjoyed when I found out about it this year. I am not really a computer game expert as I sucked in my hand co-ordination in multiplayer games like counterstrike. I only like to play strategic-based games like Age of Empires where teamwork and strategy is necessary to win in these kind of games. However, DOTA is a mix between strategy-based and a little hand co-ordination which you can kill heroes.

Let me explain how the game plays...

First, you choose a character either from the Sentinel or from the Scouge. Then you build up your hero by killing creeps (little minions) which will gain you experience and money. With enough money, you can buy items to make your hero more powerful and strong so that you can kill other characters heroes. The game ends when your base is defeated or you successfully kill your opponent's base.

Simple? Yah, it is. However, there is more to this. You need to know which items to buy for each hero character so that the item you buy will not be wasted and useless. And backstabbing is part and parcel of the game…You have sometimes backstab other opponent's hero in order to kill them. However, this may not gain favour with your friends who are playing. I know of someone who hates being backstabbed and would always shout and cursed before quitting the game halfway which is a big no-no...

So I played this game about once or twice a week with my church friends. I think the price of the usage for playing computer games in lan gaming shops is quite high, so I tend to play less and only minimal...

This game helps to booster your confidence and increase your strategical skills. However, some pple take reel to be reality and constantly spoil the mood of the game. They tend to be uptight and agitated and perhaps angry when their teammates are lousy players or noobies and do not know how to play the game well...so they will vent their anger and frustrations on them... relax!! Just treat this as a game and all will be ok...

My New iPod!!!

I got my first iPod!!! It's a 30GB 5th gen video iPod. Yah, after so many years since iPod is launched in 2001 that I am finally financially free to buy this product. When it was first launched, it was so expensive and not very nice. I only like the click wheel, however the iPod is quite bulky (1st gen). Now, it has improved tremendously. Slim sleek design with cool click wheel. And it comes with a click wheel and can play videos too!! my first video mp3 player!!

Why I bought it? Coz i keep losing my mp3 players!! The first one I got was a Philips model but it spoiled after 1 yr and 1mth. It spoiled the first time during warranty period and I got it fixed. However, this model got spoiled after again just as my warranty period ended. Curse myself for bad luck!!

The second mp3 player was Zen Neeon. Quite a good reliable mp3 player. The player again got spoiled during the warranty period b'coz water entered it. I got a new player but then I lost it during clubbing in Jurong sometime in Mar 06. Such bad luck.

Now, I decided to get iPod. Perhaps fate was trying to tell me to choose iPod as my ideal mp3 player. Every player I get, it either gets spoiled or lost within a year. I hope that my iPod can last for more than a year as it is a costly investment...

Only drawback - short battery life for video playing. Only can play abt 2 hrs or most....hope that battery life can be improved when the next iPod comes out...

My iPod taken from my Samsung D600 phone. The above model is from the Apple official Website.

Interview

Interview - the one many of us have to go through to get our dreams like a job or a place in the university.Since I cleared my leave in April, I have been going on the job hunt for a part-time job so that my three months before university will not be wasted. Here are some excerpts of the questions they posed to me.

"Why do you want to work at Starbucks?"

"What do you want to achieve by working here?"

"Is it ok if you are willing to work shift jobs?"

"Any job experience?"

The interview with Starbucks was the most thorough. The interviewer asked a lot of questions which I felt that very exhausted after the interview.

"Describe an experience that you received excellent customer service?" (I sort of cooked up a story - true story but just spiced it up a little)

"Are you willing to work together as a team?" (Er, can you say no?)

"Describe a time where you work together as a team and some conflicts arises. How did you mediate and resolve the conflict?" (I just jibber-jabbered about my project work experience in JC days)

"What if you and your partner had different ideas and how are you going to convince your partners to follow your idea instead of his?" (I really can't remember what I said. Perhaps I think I said that I will compromise and combine two ideas together)

In the end, I got the Starbucks job which I thought I would not be able to get it. Looking back, I think every time I go for an interview, I always have the feeling that I screwed up the interview process and will not be hired...

Then there's one interview which I went to which I didn't even know what is the job I am seeking for.

The interviewer was sitting on the chair while I sat on his sofa.

"So you are looking for a job, is it?"

"Yes. What is the job about?" (kind of stupid question to ask)

"Oh, they send you for training and they pay you around $1k."

"Oh, so what do I have to do?" I suspiciously asked.

"Don't worry. No sales involved. So why do you want to work here?"

"Erm, to get job experience and your place looks vibrant and energetic."

I am not quite sure till now what is the job scope is.

"So what am I working as?"

"Er, we are an advertising company. So we will send you for training where you will work together as a team to brainstorm and solve conflicts. You will learn leadership skills and management skills and we will pay you."

Sounds suspicious. Where on earth does a company give you money to send you for training?

To cut the long story short, I nearly got conned. Luckily my friends went for the same interview and asked him about the jobs. Turns out, they are looking for people to sell charity tickets to raise money for charity as have some commission at the same time.

Wait a minute, isn't that sales? Nope, the interviewer said. You are doing it for charity.

So then, why are we getting a commission for the charity tickets we sold?

I immediately quitted on that day. Luckily I never went for the training courses due to my problem of punctuality. I guess when they mean no sales involved, you have no idea that you might be conned. I have my friends to thank for finding the truth out.

Renewal

Wow, it's been a month since I last posted. What is new now?

• A new different layout (yeah!!)
• A new tagboard which people can post their comments and messages (yeah! yeah!)

How's cool is that? I learnt all this from the Internet, should kudos to the Net where everything is can be learned and enjoyed.

Enjoy the new layout...

Chill

Lost

Loss - The feeling everyone has to do through some point in their life when someone or something is taken away from them. How do we deal with our loss?

Lesss than 2 months, my father passed away suddenly. It happened overnight and suddenly without any notice. It was a hard loss to me at that point in time. Overnight, I was suddenly the Man of the household and had to deal with my family financial situation. How then do I deal with my loss? I could mope around in the house, crying my eyes out mourning for my father. Or I could blame fate for taking my father away. No, I simply go on with my life, remembering my father in my heart and continue to live my life to the fullest.

Some of us deal our loss differently. Some of us try to deny our loss, saying that the loss does not have an effect on their life. Others feel that it is the end of their life. Also, some of them find their own courage during their period of loss and continue to live their life. Whatever it is, there is no denying that the loss of a loved one will evidently have a huge impact on their life.

How then do we move on after our loss? Many times I sometimes dreamt of my father, as if everything is the same as always. I always reminisced the times that my father and I spent together. It is difficult to move on after the loss of a loved one. Often, we feel that time has frozen and we are reliving the horrors of the loss of our loved one. However some time or other, we have to move on. That is where our Friends come in.

Thank you and farewell

Singapore has just lost a great leader last week when Mr S Rejaratnam passed away last Thursday. At first when I knew about the news, I was unsure who he was. Who is this great man that Singapore had mourned for and what contributions did he make? So I went and search him up on the Internet and the newspaper. I found out that he was one of the founding members of PAP with Lee Kuan Yew and he wrote the National Pledge. Imagine that! He wrote a pledge that we Singaporeans have been reciting since our early childhood education.

I guess in this fast paced society of today, we tend to forget our roots, forefathers and pioneers who made us who we are today. We know the lastest fashion trends and the lastest celebrity gossips and news. We almost know every minor detail of our famous celebrities. However I wonder, how much do we know about our forefathers? Do we only truly cherished them only when they left the society? How much effort do we take to know our forefathers who struggled in the past to make Singapore to what she is today? In other countries like America, almost every American know who is Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. How about us as Singaporeans? I guess it's time that we take the initiative to know about our forefathers and do not take them for granted. I guess it's time that we do not take our forefathers for granted and be appreciative of their contributions to the society.

With this, I bidded my farewell to a great Singaporean man who make his mark in the Singapore history. Rest well for you have truly deserved it.

Also, it's is two months since my father has passed away. Time doesn't heal my wounds. Sometimes, I wished that he is around with me and guiding me. I missed his voice and his mannerisms. However, life has to go on and I know that he will always be with me no matter what happens.

A Tribute to my Father...

"The world is filled with good fathers. How do we recognize them? They are the ones who are missed so terribly that everything falls apart in their absence.

They are the ones who love us, long before we have even arrived.

Yes, the world is filled with good fathers. And the best are the ones who make the women in their lives feel like good mothers."