Friday, April 28, 2006

Happy Birthday.....

Date: 28 April
Time: 4.30pm

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to my brother
Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to Julie
Happy birthday to you

I bought my bro Topman voucher. I think he likes that brand based on my observations of his wardrobe. Don't ask me how much the vouchers' worth. They're only sold in dominations of $20 and $50...so go figure.

He's away for training now, so I guess he'll probably only see the pressy when he's back. Oh well, better late than never.

Friday, April 21, 2006

My 50th Entry

Date: 21 April
Time: 11.02am

It's my 50th entry. Woah, time does fly, doesn't it? And after all these nonsensical yakking from me, I'm still going nowhere in life. Grr....

It's the birthday of 2 of my special friends tml. One of them I'm still in contact with, (and occasionally bully too) whilst for the other one, she was my closest friend in secondary school. She sat beside me, loaned me her cd collection (when all I knew in the past was Aaron Kwok), gave me treats and let me braid her hair. She was known to be quite aloof, a little in her own world and hardly ever socialise. She's always so cool that she's known as the "Posh Spice" during the juvenile days.

I tried in vain to keep in touch with her, but I feel so helpless at times. She cancelled her cellphone line but I still have her home number. When I tried to call her once in a while, I could feel that she did not want to be associated with the rest of the world anymore. She was the only one amongst my friend to drift from school to school, work to work after O-levels. I remembered about 3 yrs ago when I decided to surprise her with a cake on her birthday at the void deck of her home. She unwillingly came down after waiting for almost an hour and a half. She still looked the same. The same porcelain skin and shoulder length dark hair. She talked to me and we reminisce about the good old days and she admitted to me that something was disturbing her mentally but she wouldn't elaborate. I could tell she was still the kind soul I used to know when she fed the stray cats but somehow, she've chosen to close her doors to us.

She used to be the most tech-savvy amongst us. She was the first to have a handphone and it was one of the most pricey one too. She had her own room, filled with the latest technology, and we once even stumbled across our first porn site in her room! She hated taking pictures as she's always the fairest amongst us (she thinks she looks too pale) and she hardly ever wore a skirt, choosing Quiksilver bermudas and nike tees instead. She excelled in sports, and often wowed us with her stand board-jump during the dreaded NAPFA days. We would sleep during Accounting class and gossip about the people we hated, and came to love now.

Even her dad called me up to ask me too go out with her sometime, as she's been keeping to herself a lot. I didn't know how to connect with her anymore. I didn't want to try to call her cos she hung up on me several times, or left me waiting and simply didn't pick up the phone again... she'll retort rudely that she didn't want to keep in touch with anyone and I didn't know what to talk to her about and it hurt me. I can't tell her about my work, cos she's not working, and i didn't want to make her feel inadequent. I asked her about her life, but I didn't want her to think I feel sorry for her.

I miss her dearly, and it's not as if she's gone from my life. I seem to have moved on but there's always a special place in my heart for her. It may have diminish bit by bit when I've made new good-friends, but 10 yrs down the road, even 20, or 30, she was still once one of my dearest friends.

Happy birthday dear.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Different People You Meet

Date: 18 April
Time: 2.19pm

Yipee...my boss's not in the office, so I'm officially slacking off....(ok, for the time being before I proceed to crop like tonnes of pictures)

Yesterday was quite a productive day. I went out sourcing with my new editor. She drives so for once, I do not have to walk around, lugging bags of products. And for today, I am going to introduce the different kinds of people I meet when I'm out sourcing.

1) The Cynic cum Investigator
They're usually the ones that eyed you with suspicions and examine your namecard for any loopholes. They'll call up your company and check your IC and then they'll want you to pay a deposit for featuring their products. (WTF?!? ) Yes, it's true. Sometimes I simply give up and walk away, giving them my best smile and cussing them inside. On 'special' occasions, they'll loan you the products after a thorough interrogation, but when you return their products, they'll frown over the "opened plastics" and they so-called 'mishandlings'. Some of them will even ask you to 'bring your camerman here and take the pictures here if you want to take my things..' Oh please.......

2) The Agressive Salesperson with MOTIVES
They'll the one that will hound you the moment you walk into their stores. Then they'll introduce you to all their new and available products, insisting to get them in your sizes for you to try. If you refuse, they'll either turn nasty (like this lady I met yesterday at Bugis) or pump up their 'agressiveness'. When you've identified yourself, they'll return to their nice and eager demeanor and show you all their available products despite your persistence to browse around by yourself. Some of them will even ask for favors like taking photographs of them.... These people scare me.

3) The Super Nice and Grateful
They're angels in my dictionary. I tend to go back to these shops for more product features or to even shop. They can be pushy at times too, but if you decline politely, they'll usually leave you alone. Many of them offer you discounts if you go back to their shops and I've began to known some of them by names. There's this extremely nice one who'll ask me to 'name my own price' if I like something from her store (which I'm too pai-seh to even ask for). Such kind gestures usually perks my day up. Once you've returned the products to them, they'll thank you with utmost sincerity... oo...such nice people.

There you go, I've summed up my work yesterday. It's a thunderstorm outside now and I'm listening to Take That. What a wonderful afternoon it's turning out to be:)

Monday, April 10, 2006

Privacy INVADED!

Time: 10.14am

I am outraged. Like totally furious...so much so that I wan to rip apart the clothes from that store.

Day: Sunday
Time: around 5pm
Location: People's Park Complex

I was gallivanting with Miss Woo , exploring places that we seldom go to. Just last week, we (Jiayin, Jen and I) ventured to Arab Street/Haji Lane , Liang Seah Street and China Town... we found some great buys and thus, this week, Jiayin and I (Jen had something on) decided to go to People's Park (which is still around china town...doh) We went to China Square(flea markets on Sunday) and then Ann Siang Rd (which almost all the stores were closed on Sundays). Everything was fine at People's Park until we stepped into this store.... 'Chong Kee' on the 3rd floor. It's a ladies fashion boutique (or shop...boutique sounds too high-class for them) and it's a husband and wife who manages the place. A pair of capri pants caught our eyes and we both decided to give it a try. However, the husband only took one pair to pass to Jiayin but not to me. I thought it could be that the fitting rooms were full (Jiayin entered one) so I probably had to wait for my turn...but when she came out, he didn't pass me a pair to try either. Undaunted, I looked for my size and went in to try. Just as I was putting it on, the lady boss drew the curtains open!! She saw me inside, and just drew the curtains back. I thought it was an accident and she probably didn't know that there was someone inside...until...the unthinkable happened. SHE DREW THE CURTAINS AGAIN!! Just when I was buttoning up the pants. This time, she just stood there and asked it it fits me. I was so shocked, I was at a loss for words. When both Jiayin and I came out to show each other how the pants fit, the lady boss kept insisting that the sizes were too small for both of us and Jiayin should wear my size..which is IMPOSSIBLE. She's like 2 sizes smaller than me. Then the lady boss mumbled to another customer that "people nowadays like to wear so tight...."

I told Jiayin that I didn't fit the pants and the lady boss commented "Yah lah, tell you cannot already, you still want to try." I was infuriated. I told her that she NEVER told me it wouldn't fit me. Besides, shouldn't customers have the right to try before buying?When I came out of the fitting room, there were 2 ladies talking to the lady boss. They were obviously waiting to try for the clothes but they just hung around talking and thus, did not notice that I've came out. When I told them nicely then there's a fitting room available, the lady boss scolded me for blocking their way ....(GRRRRR...) Jiayin didn't know about the curtain incident until we left the store. She bought the pants in her own size but the lady boss told her " You sure u want to buy this size? If too small, you come back and change, but my stock move very fast, no guarantees got left for u ah"

I left the shop feeling violated. Maybe that's why we all need to pay a higher price for better service. Besides, we saw another stall around the corner that had the same pants..and way cheaper. I felt like writing to Newpaper and complain about it. (sheesh, that's just a thought)

My mom said that aunties from these shops are usually like these..prob. because they're like 'Mothers', they feel it's ok to open up the curtains and ask you if it's alright...like how a mom will nag at her daughters...besides, she added, I look like a kiddo, probably an easier target to push around. Gosh.... my Mom's so wise.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Had a conversation on MSN with the IT guy for my company. Somehow we got to the topic about dressing. I said I'm a simple girl, and he said I'm not - based on how i dress. I asked him what's wrong with my dressing...and he said nothing wrong, just not simple. We went into a whole lengthy conversation on how 'one can't judge a book by its cover' before he said that he didn't say I dun look good what...Good, That satisfied me. For a split second, I thought that I was a bad-dresser. I told Jen about the conversation and she said that she'll be mad if someone said she's simple. I guess her definition of simple = naive. My definition is more of 'less expectations'. She said I'm definitely not a 'simple person' ... hmm. I guess if it's by her definitions, it's not such a bad thing after all.

Ok...now I am thinking how should I write the letter to Newpaper.