change of job...

looks like i have been neglecting the blog for quite some time; life was, well, not that busy, but after spending a whole day at work in front of the computer, one tends to try his best to avoid the computer at night. also, not to mention, there are no pretty pics of me visiting some exotic locations and sorts, so any blogging will be concentrated on complaining about work.

well, my life is undergoing some change now. had taken the plunge to resign from a comfortable job and the certainty of drawing a fixed regular monthly salary. perhaps my previous director was right to say that i had made a hasty decision without weighing the pros and cons - that i should have considered more factors before quitting mof and going in the financial advisory line. i am not complaining, but i certainly had a "preview" of what life will throw at me. met up with some ex-mof colleagues and i was trying to introduce them to some promotions of my new company, but i definitely wasn't expecting such cold reception. =(

sometimes when i looked back at some of my decisions made throughout the past 3 years, there are times when i wondered whether i had taken the wrong step. things would have been so different if i had stayed on the more conventional path - staying in ntu to do my studies (i would still be a student); sticking to my first choice when it came to choosing between singapore prisons and the mof job (i would still be a trainee officer); sticking to mof and hoping that things will turn out better in the next posting after 2 years (i would have gottan my bonus next month and in the process not have to worry about what lies ahead of me).

how will things turn out for me over the next couple of months? with anxiety and uncertainty creeping in every single passing, i will just have to continue to hold my breath and hope for the best!

work is piling up...

hmmm, dont seem to be having the time to constantly come online to blog, either that or i am simply lazy...=(

work-wise, it's definitely picking up - in terms of workload as well as the number of responsibilities, which definitely suits me more. guess that being a fresh graduate, i wont mind having lots of work thrown at me, at least it's a way to trying to justify my existence as well as an opportunity to prove my worth in an environment where the presence of the 'scholars' severely distorts the playing field.
cant mention any details as yet, but apparently one of the bosses have rather high regards of my work so far. and supposedly if i were to stay on my feet and not get big-headed (in the process changing his opinions), i should have the opportunity to travel quite a bit while staffing this boss. fingers-crossed on that.

17 days of leave entitlement for the rest of this year. 5 days to be set aside for the trip to taiwan at the end of july (which is already confirmed). another 2 days for a possible trip to sri lanka to visit chaminda at the end of next month (wonder if its a good idea after all -sri lanka is still in the midst of a civil war and car bombings in public are never out of the news. besides, is there even anything to see? hahaha. lots of questions. but the opportunity to travel for a mere 248 bucks is tempting. very tempting).
that leaves me with another 10 days for this year. wahhh. shall i just bonk everything down on another trip somewhere at the end of the year? hmmm. australia will be having summer, taiwan (the southern part) will be cool and nice. =)
whoa. almost forgotten. maybe i should just svae some leave for my backpacking trip to eastern europe next year. hahaha. so many plans, so little ammunition (mooolah)...

an 'itch'

been having a uncomfortable 'itch' these days. a travelling itch, that is.

been wondering why am i feeling this day? after all, i've had my share of fun when i was in europe for 2 years. then it dawned on me that it's exactly why i am feeling this way this very month. i've remembered writing in this blog sometime before, that i can just buy a ticket and then hop onto a train/plane to some unexploited territory whenever i feel like doing do.
however, now that i am back in singapore, this habit of mine has not changed a bit. i've been looking for chances to do my travelling (nope, the past natas fair didnt help a bit). only problem is that it's a lot harder and expensive to do so when i am in singapore.

been to bintan last week (yup, the skin on my back is flaking off now, no thanks to my stubborn-ness), had plans to go climb a mountain in malaysia (no confirmed plans yet) and had my tickets to taiwan in july booked. yet i am still toying with the idea of squeezing something in in the months of april/may or june...hahahah. oh, forgot to mention this, planning for my 'last' big trip - a 3-4 weeks backpacking trip to eastern europe next year! interested parties, pls register your intent with me.

3 weeks into new job

3 weeks into life as an associate and here's the findings:

(i) life is really slow for me; a fellow new colleague commented this:" i feel that i am being sheltered from the harsh realities of working life, it seems like they (the organization) are trying to nurture me as slowly as they can, and in the meanwhile, make sure that i grow up, slowly and steady...." hahaha... well, i think those words really reflect what i am thinking too...

(ii) prudent, and to be seen prudent, is the key for most govt departments, including mine. was supposed to take over the duties of a colleague, but yet, one of the the kep personnel refused to let me travel for the meeting, cos we dont need 2 staffing officers to go at the same time... then how am i supposed to learn?!

(iii) no traces of any office politics as yet. perhaps i am at the very bottom of the organization, so i dont appear as a threat to anyone yet. hahah... maybe all these politics will set in when i get a little higher up...

(iv) most of the colleagues are really nice =D
they usually try to help me whenever they can, probably becos of the fact that most of us are less than a year with the organization.

(v) signs of the "i-dont-know-as-it's-not-my-area-of-work" attitudes are slowly surfacing. and those words came from one of the head of one of the unit. omans, why ah? why is it that people tend to push their responsibilities to other units?

CNY and past/new jobs

sorry for the long absence... it's probably the longest time which i've left the blog untouched... ha... enough of the bullshit, let's get down to updating...

first of all, i've finished my 2-month 'assignment' at ChemGrow. was definitely a hell of an experience for me - coming out of school and going straight to the shipyards... i've probably stepped foot into every single shipyard which one can name in the entire Singapore. Not to say that this experience was terrible, but well, it definitely was not what i expected. since my NTU days, there had been a shift in focus from the more traditional sciences (think metals, corrosion etc) to the new sciences (think semiconductor chips, and biomaterials etc), and this had made me 'forget' about the existence of industries which had made singapore evolve into the country that she is now... and this 2 months had definitely made me realize that there is the marine industry right here in singapore (despite many people terming it as the sunset industry). on top of being able to experience this industry first-hand, the past 2 months showed me the hardship experienced by the locals as well as foreign workers in singapore. well, i've learnt a lot about people-management, and i will always look back to this experience with fond memories!

looking forward, i've finally decided on my potential new career. accepted the offer from MOF instead of the Prisons service, and i will be commencing work on the coming Monday. talking about this, i am slightly worried about what may come... from young till now, all my jobs were considered short-term or temporary. and this is probably the first time i will be holding down to a long term job. so whatever i do will sort of have an influence on my future... ha... talking about first-time job jitters...

the past one week was great - not in terms of receiving ang pows or gambling (lost lots) or food (okok, food was great!) but more in terms of the interactions. despite the celebrations being toned down considerably due to the current economic outlook, it's the first time in almost 3 years that i managed to spend some quality time with my extended family during the festival season (last year does not count cos i was practically rushing all over the place, with my friends coming over from denmark and me leaving for denmark on the 3rd day of the new year)...

that's all for now. but i will definitely have a lot more updates (and pictures) coming up soon!

will update really soon =) been REALLY busy these days...

new blog introduction

seems like i have to either do away with blogging entirely or i should just change the introduction of my blog... i chose the latter =)

the past one week had been hell... ha~ ok, seriously here, it's rather a rude awakening - having to wake up at 5 plus daily so that i can make my way to Tuas for work... as for the work, it's also something which i've never expected myself to do; a small company performing chemical cleaning for pipes for the marine/ chemical industry... well, it started out as a 2-month assignment, was just there to help out with the management, sort of like an in-transition job before i land myself something more permanent... but uncle andrew seems to be kinda hopeful that i would stay on and help out with Max... and that's a bit of a difficult situation for me...

let me explain: all along, i've always wanted to start my career (or at least the first permanent job) in a large organization... went abroad for the past 2 years to gain myself some international exposure, but my, a hell lot had happened over the last one year, and that this continuing financial crisis sems to put all my plans on hold... every single so-called company in singapore (or even in europe) has started retrenching or freeze their recruitment... now, Max and uncle Andrew had sounded me out regarding me continuing working in the company... ha~ both are equally nice to me - giving me lots of opportunities to learn (you can never imagine the places i've been to and the things i saw during the past one week)...

BUT there is this other potential job opening coming up (went for the final interview earlier today, and everything went pretty ok... i spent 50 min chatting with the 3 interviewers --- the previous 2 guys took 10 min each --- everything seems pretty promising),and even though this job was NO WHERE near my initial expectations, it seems to be challenging enough for me to accept it if i were to be offered the position...

so, here is the dilemma; (i) to stay on in uncle andrew's company - with lots of opportunities to learn but be thrown into the deep end of things (will have to learn everything from technical to the management of the workers) or (ii) to go for this other job (if offered - cos this final interview went well) and start from scratch - go for training, and then embark on a long path to fight for myself in this line?

update...

whoa, it's almost 3 weeks since the last entry... hmmm, what have i achieved over this period of time? well, practically nothing... i've set myself a limit of 3 months i.e. nov, dec and jan to secure myself a job, otherwise i will start looking abroad for PHD opportunities... however, given the current economic situation, securing even an interview seems to be so difficult...=p

went for one interview earlier today... hmmm, a position labelled as "application and sales engineer"; the interviewer seems sincere enough, and everything went pretty according to plan. despite this, i dont think i will be taking up the job if i were to be offered; first of all, this position dont seem to offer me a viable career path, it seems like i will be forever stuck in a sales position... secondly, the small size of the company does not fit into my desirable first-job-requirements - i wonder if the total manpower of this company even exceeds 15? and lastly, i will probably end up as a so-called "generalist" **as quoted by the interviewer** i.e. will only operate on a superficial level instead of truly understanding each and every product... hahaha... am i too demanding or what? i really feel that my first job has be something interesting, fulfilling and yet, it must be able to tally with my visions for the future, and i seriously dont think that the above-mentioned job will enable me to achieve that...

so, what are my plans? i've received like 3-4 emails regarding the civil sector "still employing despite the downturn" over the last 2 days... and indeed, i've sent out my resume for some of the advertised jobs in the civil sector... it's funny how things often dont turn out the exact same way as one expected... i have NEVER thought of joining the civil sector, but after each passing day, this possibility seems more like a reality... well, no complaints regarding this, let's see how things work out over the next couple of weeks....

oh, one more thing, i've managed to secure a temporary job, for the next 2 months at least...
good: i will get some pocket money while on the lookout for my dream job... **minimizes the nagging that comes from some relatives about not jumping at the opportunities that come my way....**
bad: the workplace is in tuas, and working hours start at 0730... ha~ do your maths, that translates into a lot lesser sleeping hours for me...

lastly, i am available for Xmas! who wants to meet up for dinner?

PS: junxiang, and jiasheng: i will plan for a Xmas get-together ok?
PS: beeyan and gals: i know i know, gathering in dec!!
PS: huisin, huiniang: you ladies too...
PPPPPPS: who else have i missed out?

so, now what?

well, there just isn't too many jobs around these days huh? back from taiwan, and now it's job-hunting season for me... **shit always happens to me... when i left singapore in 2006, jobs were in abundance; and now?** perhaps i should just do what the rest of my EMMS friends are doing - get a PHD, stay on in europe, and remain a student for the next 3 years... arghhh, what should i do?

ps: the thought that i can fly to most places in europe over long weekends is really tempting...=p

home for good this time?

4 days since i've touched down in singapore, but to me, it seems like it was only yesterday that i moved out of my apartment in aalborg... and according to chami when he met with the janitor, he managed to persuade him to paint only the kitchen instead of the entire apartment, hopefully that will translate into more money which would be refunded soon (pls pls... that sum of money will go a long way to ensure my survival, at least until i find myself a job)...

i miss my apartment! my beers in my 2nd-hand fridge! my noisy little bed! my messy room! my clean clean toilet which i had spent hours polishing the tiles! my nice Hungarian neighbours! chami! and least of all, the fabulously-cold-and-no-sweating-when-i-finished-my-bath weather!!

did nothing much these days in singapore except to eat, met up with some friends, and complaining how freaking warm the weather was... arrggghhh... will probably slack further over the next 3 days, before i pack my ass off to taiwan... got this feeling that some people feel that i am crazy to be going for a trip instead of getting a job =( it's true, but i figured out that with the job market in the dumps these days, i won't get any job interviews anyway, so i might as well go over to taiwan and take a well-deserved break before i dive into the job-search process full time... nah, that's just an excuse!

ps: london heathrow terminal 3 is a joke...
pps: A380 is even worse...

it's a day of clearing and cleaning... my little cave...

it's amazing how much stuff we've managed to squeeze into our little apartment over the last 9 months... i remembered mentioning in an earlier entry that my apartment resembled a little cave, and how empty the whole place was... but earlier in the day, tina came over with some friends and carted away a table, lots of utensils and chaminda's bed... yet, the place still seems so congested... ha~ only one more day before we have to thoroughly clear out every single piece of furniture... my my, think i am starting to realize how close i am to leaving denmark, and how much i am going to miss my little cave...

1 can of 330ml beer = 120 calories...

had not been sleeping well recently, maybe it's the excitment that's keeping me awake... the thought of going home after 2 years seems so scary, not knowing what is awaiting me ahead... coupled this with the fact that singapore just went into a technical recession made me feel more uneasy... ha~ why did i leave singapore in 2006 when the economy was booming and jobs plentiful? =p

another reason which could cause my sleeplessness might be alcohol... just counted, ever since my project defense day on the 30th sept, i have had some forms of alcohol every night... whoa, that makes it 10 nights in a row... must be a personal best of mine... and there is yet another mega party tonight **said to be the best of the year!** who knows how much i will have to drink? must keep a lookout on the calories!!! 1 can of 330ml beer = 120 calories...

countdown countdown =)

wahahhahaha!!! i am coming home in less than a week!!!

no more norway...

sigh, even my hopes of going to norway have been dashed...

return ferry tickets - >100 pounds (for whatever reasons, the price was tripled as compared to a month ago!!!!)
4-5 nights accommodation - est. 120-160 euros (cos it's norway)
travel expenses in norway - est. 80 euros
grand total - est. 350 euros...

the price is kinda steep for just a 5-day trip huh?