BERJAYA

Sunday, August 26, 2007
2:24 AM

I think

Yet another birthday party today. My nu-er's.

And what she said in her emo speech got me thinking about how many true friends I have. Anyway, what do you consider true friends?

There are many friends that I can click with, but there aren't that many friends who really understand or care about you. People, even the closest ones, inevitably think of themselves, and apply what they think to you. It's best when you can bitch together with them, but when people emo, they assume that you don't have emotions like they do, that they have every right to emo, and you shouldn't be affected by their emotions, and that you are happier than them. Or worst, they think you are unfeeling, or don't have a life, or don't have worries like them.

While others are wallowing in self-pity over little things (well, at least they are little to me), there are others who are suffering from bigger things, but refrain from complaining. I think about my friends struggling with getting over their close ones' passing or family problems.

I feel ashamed of myself, for getting in a dispute with my sister over a small thing, and getting seriously angry over it, and displaying a black face throughout the day, despite trying to hide it from everyone else. I think of my wishes of going for exchange, and then my parents' medical condition. I think about my dad's operation next week, and there I was, hanging out late, sleeping over at school and making them "worried", catching a late night movie and going for a dragonboat regatta on a Sunday, a family day. And then I think about what kind of daughter I am.

I think they know that I care about them, and that I have commitments outside that perhaps they cannot visualise, that I have interests that they can never fathom.

But sometimes, even I cannot understand myself.

Saturday, August 18, 2007
12:40 AM

Hottt

351degreescelsius it was called.

Modelled after last year's camp, there was Choo Choo trek, iceskating and cycling in Pandan-Chinese Garden-Jurong East-West Coast area on the first day, kayaking and diving on the second and third days, outdoor cooking and night performance on the last night, and then inline skating and finally the Finale Telematch on the last day.

This would have to be my first time feeling relatively free during a camp as the advisor, and I'm not used to it. Sometimes I tend to want to interfere, but eventually told myself to step back and let the guys work it out themselves.

So I was the stand-in photographer; it was great using an SLR for the first time and figuring out how to take good pics, and I reckon that I'm not that bad a photographer! At least I make pple look nice in pics! I was the safety boat personnel where I witnessed kayakers being splashed upside down by the boat engine (see pic Row 2, first on the right); all thanks to the cheeky safety boat driver. I was the emcee at the night performance, racking my brains for fanciful descriptions and connective sentences; I'd rather take photographs man. I was also sunbathing at the pool and taking some underwater shots with my new Olympus camera! Finally, I was muah-cheed by Group 14, and when I thought it was all over, I was rolled in a tarp of soap and mud. Everything that happened to the camp organisers happened to me, save the ice cream on the hair. Darn! I had already changed out of my last set of clean undies. How was I to know that it was going to be this rowdy this year, considering I only got dragged to the sea and dunked last year!

Wednesday, August 08, 2007
9:49 PM

New Term

3 Aug marked the end of my 15-week-long internship. It was one of a great learning experience, wonderful colleagues and most importantly, gave me a clearer picture of the prospects in Big 4, especially in the M&A industry.

What lies ahead is going to be exciting... This term is one filled with excitement, when the new Crew will be elected, and I shall be handing over my Crew role by the end of the year. Half of 2008 shall (most prob) be spent in Europe, speaking a foreign language, studying in a foreign land, travelling, and probably working there as well - once-in-a-lifetime experience.

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My schedule for the upcoming term!

Mon - driving/ tuition/ project
Tue - driving/ tuition/ project
Wed - 0830-1145 Advanced Auditing
Thur - 0830-1145 Business Processes
1530-1845 Advanced Financial Accounting
1900-2215 Negotiation Skills for Business
Fri - 0830-1145 Computer as an Analytical Tool

Wish me luck, as these courses are not going to be simple. Wish me luck on Thur especially!

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I was wondering if there was a deeper meaning behind the name "Team XUMS". Unfortunately, it was simply the "sum" of all the teams in SMUX - all the teams coming together to play this game. Another reason was that the committee liked it as it sounded like "tim sum". Gosh, no link!

Here's the route my team ran:
Fort Canning Park ROM - take pic of couple in their costumes, so we took a Malay couple
Cathay - take pic with the Simpsons' family display
Took NEL down to Little India...
Mustafa Centre - looked for Axe Brand eau de toilette called Unlimited, click and touch (lousy marketing).
Muthu's curry - lynette managed to get free watermelons from the guys there! woo~
Took NEL down to...
Vivocity - ran the whole of level 2 to realise that Amelia was walking around so we couldn't find her in the beginning. Solved the clue to find that our final destination was Aloha Loyang.
Took a bus down to Raffles Place.
White Raffles statue - Took a pic with SMU jump and Raffles.
Merlion - the guys really love to kiss the merlion.
UOB building - find the address of the underground mosque.
Chevrons House - get spoon and box from Awfully Chocolate. Gee Yong had an awful haircut at ECHouse.
Ran to...
Fast East Square - drank up a whole bowl of chilli soup! Our tummies were churned upside down after that!
Took a train down to Sembawang and bussed down to...
Sembawang Hot Springs - cooked egg and Daniel had the honour of eating the egg!
Hitchhiked our way to...
Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve - the driver only wanted to send us to Kranji MRT, but he did a good deed by sending us all the way in! We had a hard time counting the no of eyes on the collage. Man, it was disgusting!
Hitchhiked our way to Kranji MRT. Made our way to Khatib and bussed down to Pasir Ris. Generally we had been really slack, and we ended up the last team to arrive at Aloha Loyang. Then we used our points to exchange for water bombs and waterguns, which we emerged champions, and won $30 Ben & Jerry's vouchers! Yay!