July 29, 2006
'fess up!No. MOE hasn't gotten back to me. Yet. Yes. It's been 3 weeks. Does that mean I'm screwed? No. I called them (proactive, right?) to ask about the status. The answer was 'in process'. And I was to give bureaucracy another chance, and another week.
So, holding out a bit more. And, I'd call and shake my head in disbelief if they give me the same answer next week.
xxx
red + white = PINK!I'm going to the NDP preview later. My sister took all our ic no to ballot for the tickets. And I'm the only (lucky?) one to get it. 6 freaking tickets too!
So, after some thoughts and processes of dilemma (in the like of, do i really have nothing better to do?), I'm going to go watch the preview with girl later. And of course, both my sisters and their boyfriends.
I told girl that we may not have to stay through the whole thing. A good time to leave would be when she sees my eyes rolling like the jackpot lever has been pulled or, when she sees me having seizure from an overdoes of patriotism. Or maybe when we are both hungry and the idea of seeing the fireworks no longer justify a starved tummy.
Or when we are just BORED with the lack of novelty. Haha.
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 11:55
July 25, 2006
A new-found talentTeaching people HOW to rest could be my new sideline. And, if bloody MOE rejects me, I might consider doing it full time.
'Cos I'm beginning to see, around me, many friends, and hear of friends of friends who work and work or work and filled up all their spare time with something just so they know exactly what to do at what time. And when they have a Sunday afternoon to spend doing nothing, they become nervous wrecks. Depressed, lost and cranky. So not beautiful. Not to mention, DUH-sad.
No wonder I often get that cynical look when I get asked how the hell I spend my time, doing nothing in particular when I am unemployed at home. And I'm beginning to wonder if people really understand what is meant when we often say to each other 'take a break, take a good rest before you start over.'
It's really not difficult to just rest, you know. To just break away. I'm not even thinking my kind of resting - like what I've been doing the past 2 months. I'm just thinking one Sunday. Of rest.
Basically, you really just do nothing. Except trying to enjoy doing that. Sounds complicated? I guess so, if you're used to meeting deadlines (the 'dead' in 'deadline' is really just figurative, by the way), allocating every hour and minute to something, well, productive, agonizing over stupid bosses and irresponsible co-workers, staying back in office to work cos you wouldn't know what else to do otherwise...
Maybe I shouldn't write anymore about this. Else that will compromise the prospect of my new sideline. Hoho!
And so?
Ya. I've a bit of a loafer talent in me. But at least, I really enjoy life, the way I live it!
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 14:13
Will the guilty pls stand?Annie and I met for dinner yesterday. Our shameless fren, whose shamelessness has hit a new high, didn't join us - which is why his shamelessness has hit a new high.
The price for first, mistaking the date of our date, then, de-prioritising us in favour of meeting some people you meet everyday at work, then, not returning my call at all when I tried to get a confirmation, then, having the cheek (and guts) to so honestly tell me you were still having a coffee after dinner - sthg you were supposed to have with us - is to buy the two ladies, whom you stood up, dinner the next time. And WE will choose what we'd eat.
Luckily, the chats just got better because he didn't make it.
xxx
It's almost snowing in Bishan.Poor Bionic. Even Bionic woman would have to make that trip to the doc if she had to work under that kind of condition like you.
Is it because civil and structural engineers lack something that is, sadly, becoming more and more uncommon, i.e. common sense?
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 13:50
July 21, 2006
2 floors aboveLives a bad-tempered, and bad-mannered mother with one kindergarten-going daughter. And a shy but polite maid. Must be new to the local breed of middle-class family. The father of said daughter was not involved in this incident that I am about to relate.
It was a late evening. I was heading home from tuition. The three of them were approaching the lift area as I pressed for the lift. The lift was here when the mother was still at the mail area, picking her mail. The daughter was looking at the mother, but did not mention that the lift was here.
I went into the lift. For 0.5 sec, I was deciding if I should wait for them or just enjoy the ride up alone to my level. Honestly? I was really quite beat already, cos I have yet to eat dinner. But, it's kind of mean to just close the lift doors on them and go up, especially since they were really just waiting for bad-mannered mother to finish collecting the mail, right? I mean, how long can one take to collect the mail?
I posed the question to the maid who looked like she was in as awkward a position as me. To hold or not to hold? She shyly replied that her mdm is at the mail area. Well, not much of an answer eh? Ahh, never mind. I can spare one more minute to be civic-minded and the kind of neighbour that's likeable.
Up till now, it sounds like a long time already, isn't it? It is, in fact. I would have bothered to speed it up if I knew someone was holding the lift for me while I went to collect mail. Unfortunately, I'm better-mannered than the 'mdm'.
Seeing that the mdm was going to finish her mundane chore soon, the maid came into the lift with me and smiled at me. I suppose, that's her way of saying thank you. Well, at least, she bothered to smile, right?
Soon, the mdm came in with the daughter who was getting a bit excited about the letters in her mother's hand.
Very well. I was expecting to hear a word of 'sorry' or 'thank you', if not both. Nothing. Nothing out of her petty mouth.
I'm not petty about such stuff though I think it would be a better example for the little girl to follow if her mother showed a bit of appreciation to another human being who held the lift for her.
My level. I stepped out. The doors of the lift hadn't even closed when I heard a horrible witchly voice saying, 'next time, don't go into the lift first!'
My jaw dropped. I was disgusted with that woman! Still am. And at that exact point in time after recovering from my shock, I made a vow never to hold the lift for her the next time, if misfortune should strike again for us to be waiting for the same lift.
Jeezz! What bad manners! First, instead of speeding the mail-collecting chore up, she was taking her time. Second, no 'sorry' or 'thank you'. Third, she had the cheeks to scold her maid for coming into the lift first.
It's shuddering how some parents behave in front of their children and yet, expect their children to grow up having respect for other people.
Most of all, I feel sorry for the maid.
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 15:42
July 18, 2006
Goody-2-shoes-in-your-faceMs Goody-two-shoes wanted a drink. She decided to get a pack of sugarcane juice. It's cheaper and healthier than a 2-freaking-bucks Iced Lemon Tea from KFC.
She walked past a snack hut. She saw that water chestnut drink is being sold there. Uhuh. Not what she wanted. As she was walking away, she saw a machine that she thought looked like a sugarcane juice-making machine beside the water chestnut drink thingy.
She traced her steps and asked the stall uncle if he sold sugarcane juice. Uncle was grouchy. Uncle said he sold the 'brother' of sugarcane, i.e. water chestnut. Ha-ha. So not funny.
But Ms Goody-two-shoes being so goody, and having honestly mistaken that machine for a sugarcane juice-making machine, simply said, 'oh, I thought that was the machine for sugarcane juice.'
Grouchy uncle was not expected to respond and Ms Goody-two-shoes would have said her thanks and walked away.
Grounchy uncle had to redundantly remarked that Ms Goody-two-shoes should have read the sign properly. And, that she should have read the 'menu' properly if she had wanted to buy anything at all.
I think Grouchy uncle didn't get this - she didn't want to buy anything. All she wanted was an answer to a relatively simple question.
Anyway, Ms Goody-two-shoes simply walked away. Pissed.
xxx
My new resolutionIs to not walk away from grouchy hawker uncles.
For 2 days consecutive, I have the misfortune of meeting 2 grouchy hawker uncles. One sells fishball noodles and the other, all kinds of snacks, except the one I desired.
The next time an uncle has to exhibit his grouchiness towards me, my resolution is that I will stay at the exact spot where I've been pissed and rebuke.
Like, 'Uncle, you only have to answer a simple question. Yes is yes. No is no. That will be all that is needed.'
No more Goody-two-shoes.
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 21:57
July 13, 2006
First, underuse; then, misuseWords don't come to mind so readily as before. Neither does motivation to write. Neither does anything that is more meaningful than thinking what's for lunch?
If you don't pay attention to time, time pays you no attention too. For there are plenty more who are constantly on the run for it. For to them, time lost is money lost. And to me, time lost is money saved.
Books are making a comeback. Novels, short stories, recently. And, the occasional marking of assessment books, the preparing for something more exciting to teach than dishing out assessment books.
Even the dogs are sound asleep, happy knowing that I'm around to clean up their mess, if I had to allow it in the first place. From time to time, looking up to see where I am and just what I am busying myself with. Maybe they are in a dream and they don't really see me typing at the computer but seeing what they see in their dreams. Whatever that will be.
I still have half an ice-cream box of salad. Fresh, yummy and crunchy. Some chocolate, and lots of snacks that I do not covet.
In the background, the odd blend of buddhist chanting and today's pop hits plays on.
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 13:29
Keep at bayOur third official quarrel was a real quarrel. No, we didn't hurl verbal abuse or claw each other. We didn't even so much as raise our voice. We just did it the non-dramatic, quiet, peace-loving kind of way.
I think what one needs is a closure of an issue that has been quarrelled over, resolved, or not. For some, that closure comes in the form of a genuine 'I'm sorry', or maybe 'Let's stop quarreling over this', or maybe 'kiss and make up?' or...
A closure that indicates that the matter has been acknowledged and it's bad that it has sparked off a quarrel, a period of unpleasantness, tension and just a wasteful drain of delicate emotions. But, the matter is over and if it has not been resolved, at least, it's been recorded in the biography and archived subsequently. Ya, so that one or both of both parties may despicably bring it out again in the next quarrel in time to come. And more accusing fingers can be pointed.
That's what usually happen, to most couples. Isn't it? But, I rise above my own archive too high to retrieve it. I treat every quarrel as a brand-new opportunity to rant and rave and whine and complain. I always prefer using fresh ingredients.
Just me and my superfluous logic.
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 13:15
July 11, 2006
FilteredMy mum has turned up the volume of the radio so loud. I'm not complaining. So far, it's been playing really nice songs. UFM. This song that's airing right now is pretty nice. Something about butterfly, blahblah, and that's all the lyrics I can catch. Ha!
I had a dream yesterday. It was horrible and so nerves-wrecking. I forgot to do my honours thesis!!! In my dream. I was talking to a few classmates and they alerted to me that I had actually forgotten to do my thesis! The good news? I still had, like, a month over to churn it out. And the only person I can remember from my dream, who went tsktsk over it, was Meisen. Oh yes, she was really sympathetic about it. Ha...
xxx
Any longer and it would be lostI finished 2 out of the 3 books that Eug lent me to read during my limbo period i.e now. The collection of short stories, titled Labyrinths, is the one I'm still trying to finish. I read a few stories. 3, to be exact. And I understood a mere 1 out of the 3.
Never quite liked short stories. But girl just bought this one that is by Roald Dahl - Kiss Kiss. And I think that may just be the one that will change my opinion about short stories.
xxx
Traffic light saladMy new favourite recipe. Introduced by my gf. Crunchy celery, pretty carrot and sweet corn. With mayonnaise. I just like mayonnaise on my salad; it's nothing about diet.
It's quick, idiot-proof to make and healthy. And a great snack on a sunny afternoon! Ya, that's my idea of a snack. Freaky, innit?
xxx
Remember what you will forgetIt's something to do about this honeymoon of a relationship concept. Just who the hell came out with something so superficial?
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 16:01
July 10, 2006
Skippy wordsSo, the interview with MOE went fine. I was in and out within 10 minutes. But, I was called in promptly, at the allocated time, 5pm. And I tell myself that it's cos it has been a whole day of interviews and my time was an hour to their knock-off time, so... there were a lot of disincentives to keep me longer than 10 minutes. Ya?
It started in English first. Then a man, probably a retiring Chinese teacher or HoD, spoke to me in Mandarin. No sweat in that. I felt quite comfortable speaking in Mandarin to him. It felt like talking to my old Chinese teacher. He smiled a lot. Good sign?
So, the interview result would be known in 3 weeks' time.
Gets a bit pressure and stress. 'Cos almost everyone who knows of this career decision of mine was so sure that I'd ace it and I'd have no problem. They sound even more sure of me than me.
Oh, and I must mention that my dad was like so excited about the prospect of me being a teacher, specifically, a MOE-teacher, that he even wanted to see what I wore to the interview. Never seen him get so excited about any of my (or my sis) interviews. It's a bit nerve-wrecking though. Like I'm living out his dream.
But whatever it is, for now, the wait continues. So does the GSS!!!
xxx
My mundane dilemmasEverytime I'm caught in employment limbo phasse, my concerns and the things I worry about become so very mundane.
Like now, I'm thinking about whether it's wiser to tap on my savings and make some good-deal purchases during the GSS now, or to wait for an income to come in and pay a bit more but have my savings intact.
And the bimbo thing about this is that, I've been thinking about it for a few days. And it's almost like the most important decision of my life currently. haha!
But, like I told Hadrian over msn, I think I'm beginning to enjoy mulling over such mundane questions. Wahaha~
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 13:15
Heritage Fest 2006I once applied for a position with the Nat Heritage Board and if I don't remember wrongly, applicants were required to write a short paper on how the board can reach out to the masses and heighten awareness n interest in history n heritage. In my paper, I wrote about how if people are not motivated enough to carry their feet to the museum, the museum should go out to the people. And I remember suggesting small-scale mobile exhibitions. In short, I think the position can be made active and history can infiltrate, instead of waiting to be revisited.
Well, the Singapore Heritage Fest starts in 2 days, and will stretch through 23rd July. I just checked out the
site. http://www.heritagefest.org.sg/home/index.html and I'm excited about the programmes and the activities lined up.
I guess, girl and I will be participating in a few. 'Cos I really enjoy museums, heritage and history. Not every single aspect of such, but I'm usually not repulsive to such.
I believe Superman has a part to play in this whole festival, particularly the website design and write-ups? Just wanna say, Great Job! It sounds very vibrant!
So, check it out, those of you who are thinking of what to do the next few weekends, besides the usual.
Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 13:01