Friday, January 28, 2005

Temporary tai-tai

I need to clear 3.5 days of leave before next Fri so I took this morning and next Mon-Wed off. I need to figure out things to fill up my days with, so I think now is the best time to practise my dream of becoming a tai-tai.

This morning, I went roller-blading at East Coast Park, sharing the walkway with oldies doing their morning tai-chi and expat housewives exercising with their kids in prams. After that, I had a kaya toast and soft-boiled egg breakfast at my favourite kopi-tiam along East Coast Rd. I came into work around lunchtime and will be leaving again at 3.30pm for a la-di-dah tea at the Bar & Billiard Room at the Raffles Hotel. The reason for this decadence? Late last year, I did some web and ad work for another research centre at the business school, and since they can't pay me extra moolah, the tea is a thank you for all the 'fabulous' work I've done.

So, these are my plans (for now) for Mon-Wed:

  • Get a facial
  • Buy proper running shoes from Queensway Shopping Centre (my old Nikes dieded on me, and so far I've been running around in my Gola sneakers. Those Golas are for fa-shun, not real sport)
  • Visit the dentist
  • Visit the Orchard library and discover if I can borrow manga
  • Catching up on movie-viewing: Finding Neverland, Alfie, A Very Long Engagement, The Aviator, Hotel Rwanda, Bad Education etc. So many!
  • Indulge even more movie viewing by renting dvds from Video Ezy
  • See if I can make better nutella cupcakes than Marmalade Pantry
  • Attempt to resist the Haagen-Dazs buffet

So, if anyone wants to meet up for lunch in town (this is so exciting! I can have lunch outside uni!! Think of the possibilities!), I'm freeeeeeee. I so could get used to this life.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Shopping without leaving the office


I love Peter Alexander

My favourite sleepwear designer is having a sale! And at 60% off, how to resist? Aside from the two pictured up there, I also bought these layered tanks and these brazilian thongs (or flip-flops, what were you thinking?). Now all I have to do is wait gleefully for my pretty merchandise to arrive. Hurrah!

Aah, since I'm in the shopping mood, here's something else...

Good enough to eat

So kawaii!!!! I want one! But I wonder if they actually work...

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

The ball's in my court...I think

The second round went well, I was interviewed by the other Assoc Director and at the end of it, I was pretty much offered a position with the agency. There is a caveat to it though. Seeing as I don't have industry experience, the AD wanted me to join in a position lower. This way, I could see how everything works, and really learn the ropes. If I learn quick and all goes well, she promised to promote me in 3 months and give a pay increment of about $300. This of course means I'd be taking a pay cut. The only question is, how large is the pay cut going to be? I don't mind taking something lower than what I'm being paid now, after all I would be learning something completely new, but if I were to have to take 20% cut...I dunno. Is this experience really worth the cut?

I asked for a figure but she was unable to get me one, saying she'd discuss it with the other AD and they'd get back to me soon. Meanwhile, I have to mull over a figure I'm comfortable with, and consider how much I really want this job.

P.S. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. I felt very bolstered by all your support!

Monday, January 24, 2005

Round 2

I just got asked to go in for the second interview today. That's really short notice. Now I have to mentally prepare myself to face a panel, anticipate some questions and come up with some brilliant answers. And I have to try and slip off earlier to go home to change. I'm so not dressed. I'm wearing sparkly shoes.

What normally happens at round 2 interviews?

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Not too shabby

So...the interview went pretty well. It went for much longer than I expected, a little over an hour, and at the end of it, I was asked to come back again some time next week for another round, this time to meet the other Assoc Director and some other colleagues. That's a good sign, yah?

I can't remember everything to give a blow-by-blow account, but generally, it didn't feel like a proper interview. I was interviewed by on of the ADs, and he did a lot of the talking, explaining the company structure, management style, the kind of person they were looking for etc. And he didn't specifically ask me questions, so I found that every so often, I would try to interject and say stuff like, "Yes I can do that. I am talented multitasker..." My biggest boo-boo was the question I hate the most, the "what do you see yourself doing in 3 years?". I anticipated this question would probably be asked, but was still not able to formulate a satisfactory answer, and as good as gave a "umm..I dunno" kind of answer, the details of which I'm too embarrassed to disclose here. He point blank told me that wasn't a very good answer and that I should have anticipated a question like that and it was a very standard question asked at interviews. At that point during the interview, my brain just went, "Sheeeeeeeeet! He's scratched me off the list!", but I managed to remain calm and smile and talk normally throughout the rest of the interview. I was fairly surprised at the end when he told me to email him again on Mon to arrange another meeting.

Overall, I've got good vibes about this company, and it looks like I could have a good time working there. From what I can gather, their biggest concern is finding the right person who's not going to up and leave in the next 6 months and can handle the pressures of working in an agency. On a related note, my renewal contract has come through. Crunch time is here! I have to make a decision! And it all hangs on next week.

Monday, January 17, 2005

Butterflies in my tummy

My E-mail inbox at 10.43am today:
"Thanks for your interest. Would you be able to come meet me this week tues 10.30am? if after office hours, I can do thurs at 7pm."

My first interview in a gazillion years! Eeeee I'm all jumpy and nervous now. I tend to get ditzy and stoopid during interviews and giggle like an idiotic schoolgirl. But I keep telling myself that this is just practise. My friend tells me I will be interviewed by the second-in-charge and that he is sharp but nice. Now I have to go do research on the company memorise everything on their website by Thurs.

What will I say? And more importantly, what will I wear??

Update: Interview has been pushed forward to Wed 7pm. One less day to prepare! Argh!

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Milestones

1) On Thurs night, I spent the most amount of money on a single piece of clothing in my life. My father had given me some money for my birthday hongbao, so I used it to buy the sequinned skirt I had been ogling from Charlie since December. The skirt originally cost $599 but I managed to get it at a 12% discount. I daren't tell my mother how much I paid for it, so when I showed the skirt to her, I told her I paid $400. Already she balked at that price. Hehe.


*sparkle sparkle shine shine*

I would post pictures but I was too busy trying my skirt on and admiring it to think of anything else. I found a piccie! Please to admire said skirt. My new idol is the New Zealand designer Trelise Cooper.

2) On Fri evening, I sent my first resume off. On hindsight, when I was writing my cover letter, I didn't trumpet my virtues a little more, like saying what a fantastic asset I would be to the company with my amazing communication skills, scintillating personality blahdy blah blah. But this is just a matter of testing the waters so if I get a callback or not. We'll see.

3) One of my friends knows about this blog. She has decided to jump onto the blog bandwagon and now has her own fabulous little piece of internet. So you should go over and say hi to the Fabulous Miss Denise.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes…

Something’s a-stirring in me this year and I can feel it. I’ve finally decided to quit and move on to another job. I’ve been at this for a little over 3 years and I think that’s long enough at a job which was originally only meant to be temporary.

Unfortunately, while I’m very sure I want to move on, I’m still not sure what I want to move on to next. Definitely not web-related for sure. Marketing? PR? Journalism? Who knows. I’ve flipped through the Recruit section and browsed online job sites but nothing really grabs me. The most interesting was editor for a publishing company to produce foodie books. Unfortunately, while I really enjoy eating, I’m not exactly up there with the proper gourmet terms.

I semi-announced my intentions to quit to some friends, and already one of them, bless her, has forwarded me a job opening with a PR agency. No harm applying eh, even though I have close-to-zero PR experience. Better spruce up my resume as a start. When I opened it, I realised it needs to be completely overhauled. More than half the things I put in there are useless now. How embarrassing to have projects I did in poly in there, and how embarrassing to have ‘Winner of Inter-Class Short Story Competition’ in secondary school listed as an achievement in there. Now I need to find ways to pad my resume and trumpet what I did at work more. Time to be creative.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Fashion faux pas

Dog doodoo. We have a meeting with the lawyer at 3pm today and I'm not dressed for it. I'm wearing one tank with a massive fabric flower layered over another and a pair of olive green 3/4 casual pants. And rubber flip-flops. At least the flip-flops have heels.

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Bad, bad McDonalds

I was fooled by the juicy tomatoes, crisp be-dewed lettuce bouncing on top of the beautifully grilled and healthy-looking chicken in the ad, so against my better judgement, I went to Canteen A and ordered the chicken foldover meal. To make the meal less bad, I substituted the Coke for an orange juice.

Verdict: the chicken did not taste grilled, it looked like it had been over-boiled and then mashed together into some sort of chicken patty. The tomatoes were not bouncy and juicy, the lettuce was limp and lifeless. And there was too much mayo in there. Healthy, my foot.

I have a weird taste in my mouth now. Next time I go to Canteen A, I'm sticking to the Western or Japanese food stall.

Trackback to KL


Starhill Shopping Centre, KL

KL was great. We did the two things everyone does when they visit: eat and shop. I went with my mum and sister and met my dad there, who lives in KL.

We stayed at a junior suite at the Marriott Hotel, and while it was really convenient and quite a nice room, we weren't too enthused about the service. We had requested an extra bed for my sister, who was staying two nights and going back home one day early, but after checking in on Tues night and going up to the room, discovered the extra bed was not there as requested. It took 3 phone calls and an hour long wait before someone finally hauled the bed in and set it up. And then, when settling into the main bed, discovered the sheets and pillowcases had not been changed from the last guest. Eeew. But it was too late and we were too tired to complain. Oh, and another thing, don't bother with the breakfast. It sucks. Their idea of toasting bread is to squish it onto a black grill for a few seconds, so what you get is soft bread with black bits. Yum. Lucky KL has heaps other wonderful places to eat.

For my birthday dinner, we tried the Third Floor Restaurant, which was surprisingly, located on the third floor of the Marriott Hotel. Despite the name, it's a good restaurant, some sort of Australian fusion place. I started off with a yummy foie gras with peach appetiser served in a shotglass, and had the beef wagyu for mains. I think they could have done a little better with the presentation:

It kinda looks like a turd, doncha think? But it was very good, best mashed potatoes I've had in a long time. For dessert, I had the mango in champagne sabayon and a tiny sliver of the complimentary chocolate cake the nice chef baked for me. We couldn't finish the petit fours they brought out with the coffee so we doggie-bagged the biscotti and chocolates and shamelessly asked for more. I like this place!

Thurs and Fri were spent roaming around One Utama, Midvalley Mall, KL Plaza, Lot 10 and Bangsar Shopping Centre. I ended up buying three pairs of shoes (two from Vincci and one from Lewre) and numerous tops from F.O.S. and Izzue.

In between all the mad shopping, my dad introduced us to new places to eat like Ah Koong's Seafood Place off Jln Pudu (I think) for the slurpilicious fish soup and yong tau foo. Oh, and I finally got to try rotiboy. It does live up to what all people say about it- soft and sweet. Not enough butter in mine though. Wonder how long this new food trend is going to last.

Aside from the eating and shopping, there was one weak attempt to do some exercise. We played tennis once on Wed but am afraid that 2 hour stint was cancelled out by all the food we consumed. Eh, it's a new year. I'll lose weight this month...before Chinese New Year comes round the corner.

Swag - pick of the litter
I got lots of really good presents this year, both for Christmas and birthday. But my favourites were the:
- charm bracelet with shoes
- Paul & Joe triplegloss
- Dirty Girl mini spa kit
- One Piece Vol. 1 manga


Monday, January 03, 2005

This January, I am into...

...getting out of the holiday mood (2004 is over!), trying to get by life without Law & Order on Sundays and Inuyasha Wed-Fri, One Piece manga, losing weight, practising more on the violin, iPhoto vs U2 iPod debates, Bateel chocolate, sequinned skirts, thinking more about how I can help in the tsunami disaster relief efforts.

How about you?