Friday, January 25, 2008
Note: This post was written out over a span of a month, as seen from the random notes made by the author.Today is Bes Hillenburge’s birthday (2/1)!
Today is when all the kiddies start going to school and WHEN MY EZ-LINK CARD DOESN’T WORK ANYMORE.
I am officially no longer a student but I don’t care – I’m maxing out the time I look like a kid for as long as possible. Save for lucky people like GohPeiZhi or Smee who can continue looking like kids even though they’re like twenty… or thirty…
(dodges all barbs/poisonous weapons/atomic bombs/all weapons and dangerous items in general)
Oh well, I shall do a bit of reflection here and hope, really that it doesn’t burst the three-page mark. I guess I could go on and on but I shall leave it at basically about two or three things that I’ll be talking about today.
They would be 31st December, School (or lack thereof), What I Do Now and the occasional randomness. (This post has been shortened because the author lost interest.)
31st December:
Ah that day was quite hectic! Firstly had to celebrate XL’s birthday because she was busy on the actual birthday itself with Cihui and her special friend who was more important than us – her friends for what, four years already – ahem but I mustn’t say anything, yes so on to the main point – then after that long lunch, went to Valerie’s house where a quarter of the class was slacking around, then went for the ODAC New Year Countdown thing.
I remember Smee poking me in the morning to return her books or something… ah well. They’re nice books – she keeps them in mint condition! Do you know how scary that is? Like completely new and clean and wonderful and no lines on the spines! I am amazed. Smee was very strict with how I could treat her books. Scary. She had lent me Kimi ni Todoke (Reaching You – or Telling Only You in literal Chinese) and Colorful Joker, which my computer underlines in red because I conditioned it to take British English – the main lead was a nice guy there, under all his layers…!
Lunch with XL and Liew was really nostalgic because we went to a nice nostalgic place, Han’s and just sat down and talked and ate and had fun and gave her presents. XL couldn’t finish her food again as usual. Then we walked around and talked some more while XL looked for working clothes and shoes.
Haha, walking around with them really made me think that friends one makes in secondary school really do stick around for life. I don’t know for JC friends yet but I hope that they’ll be the same!
It was around 3plus, almost 4pm that I left Marina Square for Kovan, where Valerie’s house was. Took the train there with Liew who practically glomped me when I said goodbye and walked with Valerie, Agapera and Baoxian to Valerie’s house. The walk was long and treacherous as I had been stupid enough to wear some three-quarter sleeve orange shirt and jeans on a hot day. We talked a bit along the way, where Valerie pointed out her teacher’s house, our vice-principal’s house, Zhanyong’s house, and her old house while Aga and Baoxian fawned over a Jack Russell and skittered away from dog poo in typical bimbotic fashion. Baoxian really looked like a supermodel diva-like persona with her big shades, hair and clothes. (Hmmm this sounds like her hair and clothes were particularly large for her but who cares)
So we reached there and Valerie’s house was an extremely pretty house with three floors and an attic and some space left over all over the house. It was very beautifully done, with aromatherapy candles decorating the house, along with nice tapestries and cute magnets showing where the family had travelled. The class had been clustered in Valerie’s room, either watching Slam Dunk or shopping online. I had a few chocolates – that might explain the high later on – and brownies and they were wonderful stuff to eat – too bad we didn’t have vanilla ice cream as it would have made it simply divine – I remember eating brownies and vanilla ice cream during Christmas and I couldn’t eat anything sweet for the next two days. (Being sick is besides the point)
When I reached the room Xinli, Mabel, Jieling, Smee, Aggie and Veronica was there. Found out that Veronica had also turned into a Bleach fan, after fangirling about Naruto and Prince of Tennis. She had even bought the character book! I can’t remember her favourite character as I think she has too many, like me. We both agreed on not really liking Ichigo that much though, as we compared notes and pointed out who was really nice and pretty and delicious – GRIMMJOW and BYAKUYA-HIME – and ahem, wonderful. Anyway, her laptop was showing Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo or something like that, i.e The Girl who Leapt Through Time.
That was the only thing I watched at Valerie’s house, by the way. The rest who had gotten there early had been watching Slam Dunk, and were slowly being tortured by the traditional Chinese subtitles and the agony of it all.
So when I reached, Tokikake had just started! It’s a very good movie, me thinks – Studio Ghlibi worthy – the guy producing or directing this was originally meant to do Howl’s moving Castle but he got distracted from it somehow and Hayao Misayaki got the job instead. The whole thing was very tastefully done, as we see how the main lead’s actions lead to consequences, with a great insert song – Kawaranai Mono by Hanako Oku – and a bittersweet ending, the sort that you hate but wouldn’t want to end any other way. Still, the ending didn’t quite make sense to me, wouldn’t she be an old lady by the time ‘she comes running’ to him?
Anyway, I think we freaked Smee out – who had brought the VCD – when we watched it. Aggie and I were like screeching our heads off in typical, overdramatic fashion while Aggie glomped Smee repeatedly and I worried about Grandfather Paradoxes as the movie went on with its twists and turns – the great twist was greeted by screeches of ‘GG’ and ‘OHMYTIAN NO WAY’ from us while Smee just gracefully took everything in and didn’t even bother to waste a withered glance at us.
It’s a great movie. It’s on Youtube by the way. Yes, the entire movie. Veoh too. Please watch it.
WATCH IT.
Ah, as Aggie mentioned, at the ending, it’s moments like this that makes us want a guy to hug or vice versa. Hence! I am looking for a guy to hug at moments like this. Actually, I hadn’t really noticed something was missing until Aggie mentioned it and when she did, it was like a revelation sort of thing, where you suddenly realise that it was what you had been missing all this time.
So if I get a boyfriend any time soon or whatever in the next few years etc, I will watch TokiKake with him and glomp him at the opportune moment.
So while we were watching and angsting over the movie, Xinli, Valerie, Aga and Baoxian had sneaked up to the uber cool attic of Valerie and were watching the Heroes DVD and playing the game of Life. Aga had drawn the 100K salary and had been looking forward to continuing the game but everyone else wasn’t and had gotten distracted by Baoxian’s new dress – she wasn’t wearing something more than her unmentionables under it – I was quite horrified and other stuff like Mabel and Jieling’s online shopping which had been going on since they had reached the house at 11am.
Ah well then Aggie had to go for her choir countdown thing, which I heard was pretty intense.
After that was like slack period as Veronica had left as well, so we couldn’t watch anything as Mabel and Jieling were using Valerie’s laptop. So Smee and I were on the bed, just randomly poking each other and talking about random stuff. I tell you, Valerie’s octopus on her bed had never been so badly tortured before. Xinli came along later and traumatised us for the rest of our lives by accidentally flashing occasionally as she was wearing a skirt and lying down. It was very horrifying. The image is forever burnt into my eyes. My poor innocent eyes.
Anyway, after that was like just sitting around and talking and then it was dinner! Aga was saying that time passed very quickly in Valerie’s house as it was past seven in the evening already. The ODACians had been poking us and asking us to come over for the BBQ for a while. Xinli had stopped watching Heroes and was shopping voraciously online, like with much vigour – she bought three out of four colours of a single shirt! We said we all now know where XL’s money went. She was saying sheepishly that her debt didn’t expand to infinity, it was just the time taken to return it which was infinity and beyond. Poor dear.
Oh man, I so don’t feel like blogging anymore. I think I shall just stop here and continue another time…
Heck la.
Anyway, after dinner, Valerie got her dad to send us all off to where we were supposed to go, like the MRT station for Mabel, Jieling and Smee and the bus stop for me and Aga, who were going to East Coast Park.
The trip there was pretty long and I was sort of thinking of where to stop and walk when actually beside us had been this whole bunch of guys who were actually going to East Coast Park, so we just got off where they got off and followed them. Apparently, it’s a very popular area for parties and all that.
We walked there, walked some more before actually finding the site where the ODAcians were. We were welcome with open arms, begging us to take more food when we had actually eaten dinner beforehand. Also, Vincent had been pwnzed by the girls before I arrived and it was quite disappointing for me, like, why didn’t they wait for me?
Alas. Such is life.
Ah but he was sick, at least, recovering from a fever with his medicine which made him sleepy so I just didn’t really do anything to him except call him an anti-social bitch when he sat at the stone tables and sulked.
We played two games that night, some game that Xiangfeng introduced and the traditional buzzer/techno-sounding game that ODAcians all play. We had stupid forfeits for the losers, like how they had to play Hai tai (which actually means seaweed) in front of frightened revellers or do the Macdonalds’ dare which I didn’t actually see but was considered to be one of the worst dares in existence, or stupid things like do the buzzer game in front of other people and (my dare) cry in front of strangers that you want to go home.
After that we got bored and opened up the cards to play Bridge as it was almost time for the countdown.
Vincent woke up a lot more after that.
Bridge is like the ultimate ODAC game? Within half a year of active ODACing I had learnt it and am now an avid player of Bridge. I will remember to bring cards everywhere I go now.
The countdown was pretty screwed up as no one had synchronised their watches so we didn’t exactly know when midnight was and just joined another group and counted down together with them. The ships off shore were sending out flares, beautiful red flares of light, like little pink balls which floated high, high, high above the sea level, when the real fireworks were like tastefully blocked by… the rest of Singapore.
I have completely lost interest in this post for now. Ah haha.
It is now almost a month later. Predictably, I went home around 1am in the morning while many of the ODACians stayed overnight. My phone was completely dead with no batteries and I had to deal with a couple of annoying people who lent me their handphones and tried to be funny about it.
An excellent way to start the New Year, I’d say.
Anyway, the rest of the post is history… and I did burst the three page mark.
Ah wells, I am working now! These few weeks sitting in a cubicle have taught me one thing:
I NEVER WANT TO BE IN A CUBICLE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.
I will go mad, I tell you. Mad! It’s insane, utterly boring and irritating to sit in a stupid box for the entire day. It’s completely senseless. I DO NOT SEE THE POINT IN IT.
I will aspire to get a job where I don’t have to sit in a box for the entire day!
And one of my biggest problems is what to bloody damn well wear for the day. It’s exceptionally annoying to think of clothes to wear when for the past 12 years of your life you’ve never actually taught about it – heck, I never bothered to anyway.
Ah I’m like rambling. Also I read manga voraciously now! I must find nice books to read as well. Else my English will go down the drain and I will die a horrible death. Rawr.
And I saw some of my old posts which have yet to see the light of day on my blog… Yes, life is full of wasted opportunities indeed.
'What happens to me now?'
‘Whatever it is, I’ll be there right beside you to walk you through it.’
~Taken from this week's CSI: Miami episode
Posted by norbert at 1/25/2008 11:32:00 PM
Friday, January 11, 2008
byakushi~~...
I'm really sorry. He was just too cute, and he looked really like this character whose-name-I-cannot-remember right now, so I called him Byakushi (the first word which popped into my head... actually the second, the first was Konnayaku - because their heads wobble like jelly), which is what Yachiru usually calls... Kuchiki Byakuya.
I'm sorry, Byakuya-hime!
Ah. How does Byakuya-hime look like as a baby anyway... (drifts off)
No, I can't do it. It's too disturbing.
Note: Please highlight the entire thing to see his name. It's black-on-black, which is just annoying because I am n00b at html.
Anyway, it's Rie Fu's birthday today. Listen to her songs with respect!
Posted by norbert at 1/11/2008 08:07:00 PM
Thursday, January 10, 2008
phones are tie me to youI’ve started work again~
This is really annoying, I’m really nervous about going to work because there are so many procedures and things to do that I have to memorise!
I tell you, I never knew that shipping stuff overseas was so difficult! I can see the worker that I am replacing biting her fingernails in horror and fear already. Each mistake you make in documentation can cost you USD 50 (average) or USD 80!
I love this picture of Bleach. Though Kubo Tite’s English is skewered, the idea is there. I find it very meaningful.
The next part of my blog is basically for me to memorise my work better. You really don’t have to read it. It’s pretty boring.
I’m at UPS, where I’m at this little branch/segment for one of UPS customers (a big one) called EQUATE Petrochemical something. They’re like producers of plastic stuff – all I read about is plastic, plastic, plastic and more plastic – linear low density polyethylene HDPE EGDA-6888 (see I can memorise entire product quotes already – oh my goodness – I have no life) – gets boring after a while.
There’s like basically four main steps… but in these four main steps there are tons of other tiny little steps that are annoying…
Anyway, first you get the Booking Advice, which tells you who’s sending what, where, when and how.
From there, you get the Order Confirmation which basically confirms the booking advice, and there’s also Shipping Instructions which are pretty self explanatory.
There are like three types of shipments, one with a Letter of Credit (L/C), DP which I don’t know what it means, and TT which has something to do with the customer. For L/C and DP, you have to send to the bank for confirmation and stuff and for TT you have to send over to the customer.
Then you’ve got to update stuff in the system, SAP, before opening a new file and recording it down on the black file. Must write shipping date and other random little stuff.
From the L/C or the shipping instructions, you will know what kind of documents to prepare for the shipment. This part’s a bitch as many companies are extremely particular over some items and some countries have a certain way of doing things – like how shipments to China and Hong Kong demand Certificates of Origin regardless of whether they’re mentioned or not, or how Philippines and Thailand want breakdown commentary on what they’re paying for.
After a while, the shipping company will send you a Specimen Bill of Lading, which is this uber pro document which has everything and it’s the thing that basically solidifies the entire contract.
What we’re actually doing is like preparing documents and stuff for the customer as well as the bank that’s getting money. We’re telling them look, this is where your stuff went, who it went to, why you’re paying this amount, here’s your insurance incase you don’t get your shipment and (indirectly) this is who to go to if everything goes awful with your shipment.
After you get the specimen B/L (ah I’m lapsing into work lingo here…) you send the people who prepare the actual B/L (the main office in Kuwait) a request for the draft for you to check… again and again.
Then! The Shipping Confirmation comes. This is pretty straightforward, and it’s for cases like when the ship doesn’t sail on the date that’s specified in the booking advice.
Somewhere along here, you start to prepare documents that the L/C or shipping instructions specified – stuff like Certs of Origins, Certs of Analysis, Insurance things, Commercial Invoices (abbreviated CMI – cannot make it – an ODAC thing), Packing Lists etc that the fussy little piece of paper has asked for. Because the main office somewhere in Kuwait (yeah… wow really far) will immediately spam your inbox with all the required documents and stuff.
Then you retrieve them and amend them furiously within 3 days, asking for the actual B/L somewhere here because you need to prepare and send everything to the bank within three working days. Not to mention that you have to prepare a personal copy for yourself to keep as record.
End shipping procedures.
I will not go on about things like using the system. It’s annoying.
You do this again and again – with different documents and everything. Ah but I think It should be a good working experience! It’s teaching me to be detailed – something which I really need.
I think I’m really freaky. The first thing of the year I talk about on my blog is work.