:)

:)

boss gave us bonus for working so hard on Rock It! i was shocked when i knew that she was planning to give that bonus.

in Mindy’s words, God uses all means and ways to bless – including bosses and paychecks :)

i actually felt rather guilty, since i’m clearing my cip hours at the same time. but have been told that since boss insists on giving, just take it. so, thank you God :)

Ellen just said that she felt i have a personal relationship with my boss. which is true. she’s guided me along so far and tho it hasnt always been pleasant, i’ve really learnt a lot. tho i complain abt her harsh words, i am thankful for her for so tirelessly guiding (n also scolding) me. she’s a wise woman with lots of drive and foresight. i admire her guts :)

anyway, announcement: i’m gg to taiwan on holiday w my parents!! :))) 2-9 aug :)

we did the work, they got the credit

need to offload after Rock It! Really learnt alot through this experience.

I hate to say this but i’ve never met such TERRIBLE people in my life before. These Rotarians were really the very very worst people i’ve ever come across. They’re accomplished people in the corporate world, with impressive track records and credentials to-die-for, but yet after working with them, i find that them incorrigible. i’ve nv met a group more self-centered, incompetent and hypocritical as them. The Rock It team will know what I mean. Shall give a summarised version.

They somehow thought that the walkie talkies were a symbol of power – n they all wanted one. fine, they can have it. but guess what there was this lady who took it, n PUT IT IN HER HANDBAG. damn! what did u want the walkie talkie for if you put it in your handbag?! as if that’s not enough, she complained that the bread we catered for breakfast was too dry for her throat, then she proceeded to TABAO 5 packets for her family. -.-

The other Rotarians were no better. all talk, no work. They’re like these super hyped up MLM type can. They do nth, and when we get the job done, they go YES YES! WELL DONE! GO TEAM GO! WE LOVE YOU! oh my. i never thought people could be so annoying!

they turned up on sat morn complaining that they woke at 4.30am to get there. we pointedly told them that we hadn’t slept at all.

at the end of the last day of Rock It!, they happily shouted good work good work! to us and proceeded to the buffet dinner. N ATE UP ALL THE FOOD while we were packing up the lecture theatres used in the day. none of them offered to help. n none of them bothered to save food for us. so by the time we were done, they were all at home resting while we were there exhausted with no food to eat. !!!!

n today when i got back to work, the flood of emails was amazing. one very classic one was that MY BOSS actually put up a post on the Rotary E club’s website, saying that the ROTARIANS worked their magic on the actual days of ROCK IT! ARGH! my colleagues and I were raging when we read that. we were the ones who ran the show! oh man! i know we need their support, their money, but this was really too mch. now i’m really reconsidering gg back to help w next yr’s rock it.

sighs. now the complaining’s out of the way, i must say that i’ve also seen great people too. The ITE students from events management who volunteered as facilitators were plain fantastic. unlike the Rotarians, they were efficient, doers, and took the initiative in many things. their teacher was really a great big help! these people deserve a big big clap. the trust the students had in the teacher really touched me.

then there was michael n his fantastic stage crew. michael is an exception to the Rotary family. Great guy there, does things instead of talk. unlike the other old Rotarians. but then again he’s a rotaractor, not a rotarian (they’re classified. interactors, rotaractors, rotarians, according to age)

i’ve seen my team work magic in the short span of time that REAL planning was done for this event. i’ve seen dedication and loyalty in them, all willing to forgo rest and family time and what not just to make sure this event goes smoothly. ziwei n his willingness to sacrifice slp. kent n his insistence on making things perfect. ju and her magic w the press. if not for this team, i wld’ve felt miserable working on ROck It. but with them, it was all endurable. even with the rubbish we had to endure from the Rotarians, we had each other to fall back on. we understood and supported each other, n i’ve learnt so mch more abt teamwork than LTB would ever have taught me. this group of pple made the bitter moments sweet. we forced laughter out of each other w our lame jokes. made each other smile by poking fun at the rotarians among ourselves.

it was really rather interesting to see how pple dealt w stress. ikram’s prayer times got more frequent. kent, kris, and ziwei’s language got worse every single day. by the end they were using the f word so frequently i was getting qt amused. kris turned to cigrarettes n booze. which brings me to another thing. kris got hospitalised yest for high blood pressure. (he’s only 26) goes to show that everyone has their limit. on sun night he was limping and looked utterly terrible, but i didn’t think things cld get worse. but they did. gg to visit him tomorrow w kent, ziwei and mindy.

this whole thing was really an eye opener. i’ve seen how bossy n fake and hypocritical pple can get. i hope i’ve seen the worst of human nature this time round. i know there’re worse pple out there, but i hope i don’t get to see it. i’ve seen pple who’re not qt at the top of the social ladder trying all means and ways to climb there. boot lickers. he did nth, but talked to our boss as if he did. but then again, we exposed him *evil laughter* this same guy was trying to get his way to the media when they arrived. but too bad, we didn’t allow him to get his way.

i got to meet glenn lim and hear his life story. God has really used his life to motivate others. may he continue to guide more youths.

we came out in my paper. i have the pdf copy, but its gg to take too mch effort to post it here. all the effort for Rock IT, i hope the youths really gained sth out of it. as sucky as the many pple who helped to plan it were, the content of the programme was really good. life coaching sessions, career panels (elim chew came!), inspirational talks by kevin wanzer, glenn lim, ong hock siew, khoo swee chiow. rock concert by cats in the cradle. did i already say that cats in the cradle is amazingly good?! they rock!! the crowd simply went wild! (the students broke one auditorium chair by jumping on it. now we gotta pay for it).

now is time for post mortem- thank you letters, consolidating survey results, invoicing schools etc etc. but i’m glad the main event is over. if i were given more autonomy nxt yr, i’ll be back to help. otherewise, i think its no go. too much work.

but then again, i thank God for giving me this opprtunity to work on Rock It. Rotarians or no Rotarians, now I know my limits n anything else thrown my way actually seems ok given what we had to manage. *grins*

n just a cheap thrill. i’m known for speaking being too straightforward aka disrespectful. but i nv tot i cld be impolite to a rotarian n get away w it. but mind u, i was, to two of them even, n i did get away w it. n one of them is the VP of a certain private school. s something m one. hiak hiak. but they were truly irritating n incompetent. esp the VP. tsk.

such a long n disorganised post. but wth. this is to unload my mind after Rock It! now i’ll have space to think abt other things like bidding n cca day com n the evangelism event in church.

adrenaline rush

was the only thing that kept me going the past few days.

I slept a grand total of 4 hours from Friday to Sun. so, after rock it, i slept from 12 plus am to today 4pm. Fri night was spent in the office. was consolidating registration for the scanner system used for taking attendace for Rock It. the registration forms only came in at 6pm in the evening. had to do data entry and then consolidate and sort them into groups. then had to do up emergency contact list to be put in the command post. and do up the name cards for the career panelists. then write up sms-es for the sms blast to the participants. Kent and Herman, ziwei and I stayed in the office till 5am. then Ikram came back n drove us to ite. then we started to set up the registration area. the registration process is pretty complicated. shan’t post it here. then by 6.30am the ite volunteers n housematers came in. at 7.30 registration started! so for Friday there was no sleep at all.

the first day of Rock It went well :D i think. there was cats in the cradle at the concert that night. THEY ROCK!! The band was super tight. tho the singer wasn’t fantastically good technically, but the chemistry of the band made up for it. n glenn lim spoke as well. he’s got a life that can motivate others. The day ended and Ellen and I went home to slp for 4 hours before gg to ite at 4 plus am the next day. but the guys stayed at ite though. then went the second day of Rock It!!

i’ve a million things to say abt ROck It but i’m using my sis in law’s com now n she’s gg to slp alrd. my laptop’s in office. sigh. nvm shall cont tomorrw. grr. work resumes tomorrow. post mortem for ROck It is gg to be quite a pain..

my eyes are closing

I’ve never felt so tired before, not even when i was pia-ing for exams. or rather, whenever i felt this tired i had the liberty to just go slp. but now i don’t.

reach office at 9am today, been working nonstop till 11pm. got home at 12am. that was today. for yesterday, reached office 9.30am, worked all the way till 12am, got home at 1 plus am. that’s more than 12 hours of work. and the difference from studying is that my brain has to be on alert all the time. no time to slack off and stone. at the end of the day i can hardly keep my eyes open. but yet i’ve still got to try to get things done for church, for campus crusade, still got to bid for classes. last week was slightly better. for this week i’ve pushed off tuition and band just so i can concentrate on Rock It.

pple who’re reading this, i’m really sorry i’ve been ignoring messages. renjie i’m sorry but i really have got no space on my mind to reply you. pear – yes i’ve decided to teach piano. will quit tuition and be your saturday-colleague :) will start work in Sept on that. kaising, my trip w my parents have been pushed to 2Aug. still unsure of time of flight but i can make it for next wed’s band. sorry for missing this week’s one. shehui – i really wld like the steamboat. but my only available dates for this and next week will be from 28July to 1 Aug. Sorry about that but for these few days i’m really completely taken up by Rock It. anticipating OT till 12 tomorrow again. and will be staying over at ITE on Fri. and Sat and Sun will be IT already

adora – i’m really sorry i haven’t read your reply yet. i will. but don’t worry things will get done ok? trying my best w the limited brain power i have at this time of the day after about 14 hours of working.

really hope the registration forms are going to come in as pledged by the schools. the programme is great and so much effort has been put in. hope the kids can benefit from this prog. now back to bidding.

:)

:)

Finally had some time to myself today. cleared up some non-work-related stuff. went to ite east in the morn for meeting w SSC and ITE east pple. quite fruitful I think.

Then, my da ge came to fetch me from ite east to go to expo for the NLB bookfair – he’s a book freak can! he’s been buying tons n tons of books and he says its for him to read when he gets old. -.- i bought 5 books (or rather he bought them for me. i didn’t pay. heh) on home furnishing. I want to refurnish my room. getting bored w the state its in. but anyway the books were cheap. going at $2 per book!

Then we headed to Ikea. There’s clearance sale going on. but in my opinion, there’s not much of a sale. bought 2 boxes to contain cds, a clear container w lid to put stuff to put under my table so that I can kiao ka on it. the previous cardboard box i used has collapsed under the weight of my feet haha. n bouht an Ikea clock for $2.50. Shall go decorate it :). again, all were paid by my big brother :D :D :D

Then, I reached home at 3 plus!! woohoo haven’t been home at that time of day for so long. Took a nap. MUAHAHA. then settled to plan games for campus crusade freshmen camp. been dragging that for so long. finally had time to do it w a clear state of mind. am gg to kop shi yan’s games for sports day to incorporate into it. heh. had a gd dinner w my parents. chat n laugh a lot. they can be quite comical n kuku sometimes. haha.

one more thing to clear before i slp today – the cca day preparations. need to sort out some stuff n allocate work. nt gg to have time for meetings w them the coming week..

What a luxury today was. sigh. next week will be one big mad rush since its the final week leading up to Rock It! anticipating lots of OT. think i should cancel tuition to accomodate my OTs. hmm. but at least after today, i’m recharged for the mad rush ahead *grins*

joel’s emo photo

is the photo on my header now. credit to him.

counting down to Rock It!

we’re now about a week away from Rock It! and my colleagues and I are really working our necks off. in the middle of the day and we’re all yawning. n everyone’s gg a lil kuku and stressed cos of all the uncertainties still surrounding the event.

right now our main concern is getting the 1000 youths’ registration in. otherwise the event will be a flop.

the main cause for the event is to spur the youths on and teach them that they need a purpose in life. talks by ong hock siew n others. n career panelists such as elim chew and various other big shots. sports and activities. but in the midst of working hard to make this event work, i think that as a team we’ve lost sight of our cause. its all the nitty gritty details and the number of kids we’re getting that’s constantly mentioned. but i guess when we see the effect the programme has on the kids it’ll all be set right. (:

today had a meaningful band session though i was late cos i was held up at work. small joel n renjie joined for the first time, and we set out our goals etc for ourselves and for the whole band. Thank God for Kaising’s heart to push us. looking forward to the growth of the band

there’s tuition tomorrow night, still undecided if i should continue tuition or switch to teaching piano. hmm..

art jam

whoo long day today! started off with emailing schools in the morn, then started to prepare for the UBS art jam at the UBS command house. preparation started at 1.30, and the actual art jam was at 5pm. never tightened so many knobs before. but it was fun and the place was beautiful. :) the jam lasted abt 2 plus hours, then the pple all started to leave. this is a really really atas programme. the art jammers were kids of UBS’s clients. our programme is just a part of a 2 day thing, where they learn abt wealth management/investment etc. there was a cocktail bar as well as massage services for them!! these pple are in their twenties. n i can’t imagine how rich their parents must be or how much they’ve paid for this programme for it to include such lavish stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

this is the cocktail bar. i took a sip of the lychee martini. it’s good!

anyway, i thought i should post up my sched so that it’s proof that i’m not smoking when i say i’m busy.

*all weekday days are taken up by work alrd*

mon night – art jam

tues night – tuition

wed night – meeting w rotarians

thurs night – band prac

fri night – tuition

i’m only left w ungodly hours like now to do whatever else needs to be done. n by this time my brain can’t do much productive stuff. which is why i haven’t been contributing much to the crusade camp preparation. adora, if u’re reading this, i apologise for that. if i were u i’d be angry at me. but that asides i’ll try to put more effort into that. its just that w the tight deadlines i’m facing at work (all cumulating in july), Aug seems a long way away. but i know i shldn’t have that mentality. sorry yea!

been sitting on the bidding stuff too. but well, i know God provides. out of the 5 mods i bid for, already got 4 of them. now left the last one to go. i’m too tired to think now so i’ll leave bidding till after tuition tomorrow night.

ahkar, i’m taking cat (G8), doing business in china (G1), MPW (G11), Finance (G12).

have got a meeting w ikea tomorrow. kinderart’s gg to try to have lessons at ikea!

My niece’s wedding :)

Congrats Mr and Mrs Tang Siang Kim!

Yesterday was their big day, and a bunch of us are qt burnt out from the day. went to help as jie mei tuan early in the morn, then went to  botanic garden to help set up, then had choir prac/worship prac and bathed n then the ceremony. i was pianist! tho it was a busy day, i enjoyed myself thoroughly :D the place was beautiful and the energy level was high. their wedding is indeed one unique one. first time i see a candy bar at a wedding. also the first time i see polaroids of guests as an alternative to guestbook. n the nest lookalike basket to carry ring. benches instead of chairs. hanging bottles from trees. the setting was beautiful. i’ve never played piano at such a beautiful place before!!

the pictures shall do the talking. more up on facebook. some emo pics taken by joel too.

tho it was tiring preparing for the wedding, w the shopping for dress, choir prac, choosing songs. but it was worth it seeing the wedding proceed smoothly. oh ya. from where we were, there were airplanes from the ndp rehearsal flying overhead!! there was even a heart shape formed by a pair of planes right when they were saying their vows. its amazing :D as if it were pre-arranged. wow!

i didn’t realise it until just now, but words of encouragement n appreciation really do wonders. miao, when i received your message i really felt that all the effort was well worth it :) thank you for that sms!!  May you n xiang jin bring glory to God through your marriage. :)

on the way to botanic garden for deco!!

alright shall end here. will post more pics when i get more slp :)

have to wake up early to get to work tmr. heavy workload! n there’s an art jam tmr night at ubs. so my work day gg be abt 12 hrs tmr -.-

purple

i know this is gross but i still want to post it anyway. my shit was slightly purple yesterday after eating the purple dragonfruit the day before! :D