Thinking things thru'

Dear fans, readers, friends, etc.,

Please be assured that I WILL BE BACK!
However, please give me at least another 2 more months because I have been really busy and that I will still be very busy until December.

Apologies for the inconvenience caused. And I seek your understanding with regard to this matter :)

Best regards,
yf!

Life is a process – you were born into this world, you grow old, you get down with some illness, and then you pass on. However, life is unpredictable, vulnerable and fragile. You will never get to know what will happen at the very next moment, until it really happens.

On the 9^th November 2009, I lost my dearest buddy; my best friend; Joyce Goh. I didn’t really get to understand what exactly happened as it seems rather awkward to even ask this question at this point in time. I was partly to be blamed as I was too busy with my assignments. As a result, I wasn’t able to understand from my friend personally why the need for the operation, not knowing that it was a heart valve transplant. I was blaming my part as her buddy for not being understanding and caring enough. But, at the same time, I understand that things happen for a reason and we just have to keep moving forward.

Here’s a letter to Joyce, and I truly hope that wherever she is right now, she will be able to see this.

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To My Dearest Buddy; My Best Friend; Joyce Goh:

It has only been a month, but there have already been so much that I wanted to say to you. However, whenever I started to blog, I will always not know what to type at all. It just seems that all I wanted to say to you were all being buried in my heart. Sometimes when I tell my friends that I will have sudden thoughts of you, remembering what we used to do and everything, all they tell me was not to think so much. If only they were all as understanding as you were…

By the way, did you know that I couldn’t find anyone to watch New Moon with me until last Thursday when I finally went to watch it with my brother? You promised that we will watch the whole Twilight Saga in the cinema together… And did you know that my sister started her training for working at Resort World Sentosa yesterday? I wonder if you were to be working at the Casino, will you also be having the training together with my sister…?

Things like this; I don’t know who else I can confide to anymore. You have always been THE ONE all along. So who is going to be there for me, to listen to me from now onwards? I must say that I have been trying my best, accepting the fact that you were no longer around anymore. Even though this is something said easier than done, but perhaps, trust once again, just give me some more time.

Thank you for stepping into my life and being part of it for the past decade. I really appreciate our friendship and it has been wonderful knowing you. I remembered that you were the one who approached me one fine day, asking if we (Zhaoming, you and I) could be friends. And that was the day where our friendship starts to blossom. If it wasn’t for your initiative, I might still have been that loner whom I used to be, sitting at the corner of the classroom, being bullied by those guys.

I must admit that I am really jealous of you for having such a wonderful elder sister and what a beautiful family. In addition, I admire you and your courage, for I know that I am a scary cat. I salute you for who you are, my buddy! Although I know that words are never enough, and will always be unable to explain how I feel, but I am sure that this feeling of you being part of my life will remain with me forever.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for the birthday present, I promise that will treasure it well, just like how you treasure our friendship for the past decade. ♥ No matter where you are, part of you will always remain in me. Not only that, you will always be remembered in our heart, forever. Last but not least, here’s a photo album which I have created, especially in memorial of our friendship.

I... will miss you. R.I.P.

From: Your dearest buddy, YiFang. (Love you always!)
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P.S. This blog post has been planned since 15^th November 2009. Due to my busy schedule and my running away from reality, it has been delayed until now… Apologies for the delay!

Go the Extra Mile for Service (GEMS) is a nationwide movement to improve service levels, particularly in the tourism, hospitality, food & beverage, retail and transport industries in Singapore.

Whereas for myself, this is how I would define 'GEMS':
"Providing the kind of service to customers which is beyond what is already expected of us (employees) by the basic code of conduct (being polite and etc) which individuals need to follow while servicing in the service industry."

Sounds logical, aye?

In order to make things simpler, let me quote an example or two...

On a Saturday, there was a lady who came over to the store and bought a car seat meant for toddlers. She wanted to arrange for delivery such that she won't have to worry carrying it back, so my colleague and I helped her to process the paperwork that are necessary. However, after the customer service staff checked on the earliest delivery date, the lady realised that it would have been a little too late. In the end, she wanted to forgo the delivery and bring the car seat home herself. Now, the problem is that she's unable to carry the car seat (which weighs rather heavy) to the carpark all by herself. As a result, my colleague and I went to get a trolley and helped the lady to bring the car seat to her BMW at the basement carpark.

According to my contract, it wasn't stated that I am obligated to help any one customer bring their item(s) which they have purchased to their car, the taxi stand, or the MRT station. However, going the extra mile in helping our customers is what my company have been emphasizing on. And I am sure that not just the customer will appreciate what we have done for them, but the company will also be benefited via the word of mouth (on the kind of service we provided) from these customers too.

On another occasion, there was a gentleman who bought a Star Wars Lego set (which cost $100++). He told my colleague that he's getting it as a gift for someone and he asked if we provide any gift wrapping service. Well, rightfully, we do not provide any gift wrapping service during the sales period since we do not have enough manpower. However, on this particular afternoon, there wasn't many people around. As a result, I told the customer that I will be more than glad to help him gift wrap his Lego set. So, I went to get some gift wrappers and when I came back to my counter...I GOT REPRIMANDED BY ANOTHER STAFF! She said that I wasn't suppose to agree to help any customer to do gift wrapping, blar blar blar...

At that instant, I was totally pissed off! I thought that the company kept emphasizing on going the extra mile?!

Then, my supervisor came. She resolved the whole matter by asking me to do the wrapping in the office. About half an hour later, the gentleman came back to collect his Lego set. He even joined the queue to get his item, and guess what? He passed my colleague a packet of chocolates from GODIVA. Woo-hoo~ G-O-D-I-V-A!!

I went to check out the chocolates at GODIVA during my dinner break and I was surprised by what I saw. 100g of chocolates cost $30? Wow! What did I do to deserve such goddess chocolates? So, at the end of the day after we closed the cashier and did settlements on our terminals, I shared the chocolates with my colleague. I took three pieces of the chocolates while my colleague took two.

But still, I am just unable to accept what the other staff said to me. Come on, if I don't do it, then who is? Moreover, the gentleman wanted to give the Lego set as a present in the evening. With that, the more I should help him with the gift wrapping. Don't you agree with me? Going the extra mile, aren't I right to say so?

In the end, I did a rather nasty thing on my last day of work. I actually went to the store manager to ask him if I am on the right track. True enough, the manager agreed with my acts and he even thank me for that.

On the bottom line, what I want to say is that GEMS is achievable by anyone in the service line industry. It's just a matter of whether the person is willing to go that extra mile in helping his/her customer(s). Also, it is important to note that there is no such thing as 'troublesome' when you are working in the servicing line. Cheers!

Edward Cullen, Bella Swan and Jacob Black.
Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice and Renesmee Carlie Cullen.

Some of you might have already figured out who and what I am referring to. While some of you could have, in one way or another, heard of any of these names before. In either way, right at this instant, I am going to share, or rather introduce a very special person, to all who are reading this post.

Like many others, I do not have the faintest idea on what these are all about until exactly six months ago. On this very evening, my friend asked me out for a movie. From the very beginning, there was no appealing movie which I would really want to watch. As a result, my friend decided on watching Twilight. At first, I was quite reluctant to watch this movie as I thought that it is just going to be some silly vampire movie. However, I was wrong after I get engrossed in the movie. I simply fell in love with the characters in the story plot (not that the actors or the actresses were really that handsome and pretty). It was a week later when I decided to hunt for the books - Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

I finished reading Twilight and New Moon within a week after getting hold onto the books. But, no matter how hard I source, I was not able to get my hands on Eclipse and Breaking Dawn as the publishers do not have the stocks for the books. It took me quite some time to go to the various main bookstores in Singapore, and I even tried means to search for the books from online bookstores from overseas. Still, I could not find that two books.

It was until a month later, when my classmate from NUS dropped be a message on facebook.com, telling me that he had seen the stocks of the books I wanted in a bookstore in Bugis. Immediately on the very next day, I sent my mother down to Bugis to purchase those two books for me, worrying that the books might go out of stock again.

Months passed and I still did not get the chance to read those two books. I was overwhelmed with school assignments and other commitments, and I regretted for not being able to continue reading those two books as I have heard people commenting that those two books are even much more exciting than the first two.

Finally, I picked up reading again a week ago. I was a bit lost when I started on reading Eclipse, but I was in sync with what was going on just after the first chapter. After I finished Eclipse, I was seriously thinking that the Twilight saga was definitely meant for children (which explains why the books can only be found in the Children Section of any bookstores). It was only until I began reading Breaking Dawn that I found out what a good writer Stephenie Meyer was. The way she wrote, the way she expressed herself; the way she make her reader feel as though he/she is in the story; and most importantly, the way she make her reader feel when he/she is following through the book (I really did follow through the ups and downs of how the vampires felt throughout the story plot).

So, believe it or not, because of Stephenie Meyer, I slept at 3am daily for almost a week! I really have to salute Stephenie Meyer for this is her fourth official book published.

I did heard that there was an upcoming fifth book - Moonlight Sun. However, due to some idiotic person who leaked out her draft copy of that book, Stephenie Meyer decided to stop working on it, since there was no point to it. On the other hand, for those who are interested, you could actually go to Stephenie Meyer's website to read the draft copy of the 'never-to-be-published' Moonlight Sun. Well, I was already fed up enough when Stephenie Meyer did not explicitly tell her readers if Mrs. Bella Cullen is going to tell Renee about what happened to her at the end... So, I will have to warn you in advance that the draft for Moonlight Sun is incomplete. Meaning to say that it will keep you in suspense, since the book is not going to be finished. Disappointing, aye?

Apart from the books, the movie New Moon will be expected to be airing in cinemas at the end of the year. So, for all Twilight saga fans, do keep a look out for it!

As for me, I have recently purchased Stephenie Meyer's (so to say) official fifth book, The Host. I hope that I will be in for a surprise like what I had when I read Breaking Dawn.

Finally, one last statement before I end this post...
Do not underestimate the power of fictional stories (because I have been reading non-fictional stories since God knows when), as they can really drive you to the highest peak of the story, unknowingly.

Kudos to my friend, Stephenie Meyer!

This post is dedicated to all those who are rich.

The definition of rich, according to www.dictionary.com, is: Having an abundance of material possessions; possessed of a large amount of property; well supplied with land, goods, or money; wealthy; opulent; affluent.

If you are wondering why this post is being addressed to the rich, read on!

My experience with Indians from India
One fine Friday evening at around 6-7pm, I was serving as usual at the cashiering station. There was a bit of crowd since it was well, a Friday evening. As usual, things always happened when there was a queue. And out of nowhere, an Indian couple suddenly appeared on my right side, saying that they wanted to make their payment. I told them that the queue is actually at the other end of the cashier, and all they did was said, "Hey, I am rushing for time, why can't I go first?". I looked at the queue at the back and turned back to once again, tell him that the queue is at the other end of the cashier. This time round, the couple were very unhappy, and to tell the truth, I was very unhappy too! So the Indian couple made some sort of face and... FINE! I let them go first...

To my astonishment, they had three huge baskets full of clothing waiting on the floor for me to scan and process. I am telling you, right at that moment, I seriously feel like whacking them on their face! So, FINE, since they are rushing for time, I just take whatever clothing I see in the basket, scanned the price tags, and throw them all into our huge plastic bags without folding them. So much for cutting the queue!

After all the scanning and packing, the bill total up to almost 500 bucks. So, guess what they did next to me? They took out a stack of SG dollars from an envelope, and... THEY THREW IT ON THE TABLE AS THOUGH I AM A BEGGAR! I SERIOUSLY HATE THAT FEELING!

And, that is not all! After giving them the change, they questioned me, "So where is my free gift since I have spent so much money today? No, no, they have told me that I am entitled for some free gift!".

Huh? How come I was not at all aware that free gifts will be given to customers who spent a lot? So, all I reply was, "Sir, maybe you can proceed to the Customer Service to check with them."... The next question the Indian couple asked was, "What Customer Service? Where is it? Bring me there!".

What? I let you cut the queue and now you are asking me to bring you to the Customer Service? OK, FINE! However, as I was about to walk to the Customer Service, they looked at me... Now what? I even have to carry their three bagfuls of clothing to the Customer Service for them! Am I their maid or what?!

I was so frustrated and angry that I almost exploded on the spot!

So, is that the end of the story? NO!

Five minutes later, they came back and showed me some 40 bucks voucher. Still, they dare tell me, "This is the free gift I am asking about."... Oh my goodness! They should have just told me the 'vouchers' and I will understand what they are trying to drive at, what 'free gift'? Tsk tsk!

No offense to all those Indians who are reading this, but I am really very frustrated and pissed off at how they behave...

Another incident was during my last week of work at my wonderful company. I was transferred to the Travel Goods Department as I was there to replace another staff who was not around. On my first day at that cashiering station, I encountered another three Indians from India. This time round, all guys. Same thing, they did not want to join the queue (I just wonder if you need to queue to pay for your items in India...). Anyway, I told the three customers that the queue is right at the other side, luckily they were more 'civilised', so they went over to join the queue.

However, when it was their turn to make payment, they were at my station again. Boo!

Lucky for me, my senior was back from lunch, so I got him to take over me. He kept asking me why, but I just told him to take over. So, they spent almost 20 minutes at the cashiering station, trying to separate up their bills to get more vouchers to pay for the remaining items. Moreover, they almost wanted to use US dollars. Oh me, oh my! If not for my senior, I think I am surely going to scream out loud at these people!

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Last but not least, I am going a bit off track by bringing in a lady whom I think is crazy, by trying to be funny!

One fine afternoon, there was not many people around (should be a Monday). Out of a sudden, there came a lady from nowhere. I thought she wanted to purchase some vouchers as she is not holding on to any items for payment, but who knows...

She asked me where is the Lifestyle Department, so I pointed my right hand to the right and told her that the Lifestyle Department is all the way towards the right. The next moment, she asked, "Where are the table runners located?"...

Err, table runners? Something that prevents the table from running? Yikes! I have no idea, I asked my partnering cashier from the Toys Department and she was not sure of 'table runners' either. So I told the lady, "Mdm, if I am not wrong, the table runners should be at the Lifestyle Department, maybe you can proceed over there to check with the staff".

Then, the lady suddenly turned crazy and said this, "You sure the table runners is at the Lifestyle Department? If it is not there, I am going to come back to scold you!", and she left with an evil look on her face.

Huh? What?! I told her politely to check with the staff at the Lifestyle Department, she cannot assume everyone to know where and what items are located in the whole 3 levels of the departmental store. Moreover, I am only a temporary staff there... I really exploded on the spot and threw whatever I am holding in my hand on the floor and walked away after the crazy lady left.

Still, I was right, even when 'table runners' is not something that prevent the table from moving, it is something that you lay across the dinning table, so rightfully, it belongs to the Lifestyle Department!

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Whatever it is, I am totally disappointed with people all around, I wondered what have caused them to behave in this way... Tsk tsk!

It has had been a good experience working in such a wonderful company which emphasizes so much on customer service. Moreover, we, as staff, have been encouraged to go the extra mile (GEM) in servicing the customers in whatever ways we can to satisfy their needs (and make them happy).

After reading my post, I hope that you people will be able to reflect upon your actions on how you behave, especially when you are making payment at the cashiering stations...

In this post, I am going to share with everyone on the various categories of "amazing people" we have in our society. Also, in order to make things simpler, I will list out the different categories of "amazing people" in point forms. Please proceed once you are ready:

"Amazing people" - Case Study 1
It was a fine afternoon and it was roughly 30 minutes more to my dinner break. Out of a sudden, three ladies came to the cashiering station and demanded, and I really mean demanded, someone to help them out with the children clothing as they are unable to find any other staff who could assist them. Since there was not many people around, I volunteered myself to help them.

I walked the ladies to the children clothing section, and the fun began~

"Hey Miss, do you have any clothing for children aged 2 years old? All these tag says 4, 5 and 6, is this the size or the age group who can wear this shirt?"

I looked around and there really was no other permanent staff, so I looked blankly at the clothing, and I told the lady, "Yes, the number on the shirt indicates the age group that is suitable for the child.".

Next, after imaging her grandchild wearing that shirt, she asked me for a pair of jeans. Later on she asked for something short, because long jeans is way too warm to be wore in Singapore. After I got her what she wanted, she told me that the material is too think, she wanted something thin and light...

After the pants, the lady decided to look for a few more pieces of shirts, shirts with button and collar, because her grandson's head is too big to go into those t-shirts, she asked if there is any discounts for the clothing that she choose, blar blar blar.

After getting five to six pieces of the clothing, she asked if we sell socks, I ran around to look for socks and found her a pair which cost 6 bucks. Then she complaint that a pair of socks that cost 6 bucks is way too expensive. Anyway, after the socks, she just proceeded on to pay for her clothing. I scanned the clothing, I folded them nicely and put them in a bag. If I am not wrong, she spent around 200 over just on the few pieces of clothing.

Time check, 45 minutes have passed! Boo!

"Amazing people" - Case Study 2
Singaporeans sure do love discounts and vouchers. There was a weekend where my company issued 5 bucks vouchers to all its members. And the only criteria was to spend a nett amount of 30 bucks in a single receipt.

In the afternoon, I was rather irritated as there was a long queue and people who wanted to use the vouchers either request the cashier to help them separate the bills, or did not even attempt to cut out the vouchers that they wanted to use. This are just some of the ways on how overboard people can get... If you were me, I am sure that you would be frustrated too. I might understand that because of the economic downturn, people are behaving this way by getting the best deals and making full use of all the discounts vouchers. But why is it that they are unable to be more understanding of the people working in the service industry? Is cutting out a piece of voucher such a difficult job for them? *Shakes head*

So after sometime, there was this customer in line who came to me with a Nike kid t-shirt and two pacifiers. She asked me to scan in the Nike t-shirt to see if she is entitled to use the 5 bucks voucher. I scanned and told her that it's not enough as there is a 20% discount for the Nike t-shirt. So, she added a pacifier into the bill, and I told her that it is still not enough due to the fact that Avent items also entitled a 20% discount. So, she asked me to add in another pacifier she was holding on to...

However, after scanning in all the items, I realised that previously, I forgotten to click on the 'Group Members Discount', which entitled members to have an additional up to 20% discounts on selected items. At the end, when I clicked on the 'Total' button, it showed something like $29.65... So I nicely told the lady that she is still unable to use the 5 bucks voucher as the total cost is less than 30 bucks. Suddenly, she exploded and shouted at me not to bluff her as the Nike t-shirt is already $28, blar blar blar.

No matter what I tell her, she just do not believe me. So, I asked my senior, the permanent staff who was at my usual station came over and asked the lady to come in to take a look at the system and that we really did not bluff her. I do not understand why some people just like to think that they are always right...

So, in the end, the lady went to get a packet of Barbie pencils and top up her bill to $32 and managed to use the 5 bucks voucher.

Oh me, oh my!

"Amazing people" - Case Study 3
I was with the Nursery Department during my first three weeks with the company. As a result, I was not very sure of certain discounts offered at the Men Department, especially the cuff links section. So, I remembered there was this once, a person came to purchase a set of cuff links. I scanned the price, I process the transaction, I pack the cuff links in a bag for him, blar blar blar.

The man happily went off after purchasing his set of cuff links and he even used his 5 bucks vouchers. A minute later, I realised that I have forgotten to issue him a 10% discount! And by the time I have realised that, it was way too late. He was no where to be seen around the departmental store.

Oops!

"Amazing people" - Case Study 4
I do not understand how come things usually happen during the weekends.

There was a Sunday when a man who bought half a dozen of shirts came to my counter to pay for them. He started chatting up with me as though we have known each other, just that it has been a long time since we last met up. This customer purchased up to 400 over bucks, so perhaps due to all the chatting and stuff, I got myself disorganized. I told him that there is some form of lucky draw going on and that he could visit the Customer Service to get his lucky draw ticket (Due to my bad memory, I am not sure if I told him to check with the Customer Service to see if he is entitled to the lucky draw).

After the customer left, another permanent staff from the other cashiering station turned over to asked if I knew that guy as both of us were chatting happily. Mm, all I could say is that the customer is being too friendly!

A week later, he came back to shop for more shirts, after all, it's the sales period where people will make use of this opportunity to stock up their wardrobe. The same customer came to me and told me that he was not entitled for the lucky draw as he is not a member of the store and he reminded me that he only paid with his POSB ATM card. In the end, I apologised to him (though I seriously thought I asked him to check with the Customer Service first...).

Aw! Never mind now.

"Amazing people" - Case Study 5
And of course, there will always be this group of people who would come back to you saying, "I thought there is a 20% discount for this pair of Clark shoes?"...

And my reaction would always be, I am sorry sir, let me double check for you. So, I will have to run over to the shoes department to check if there is any discount for the pair of shoes. And if there is none, my reply would be, "I am sorry sir, but this is already a discounted item". However, most of the time, the discounts were not reflected on the system. Then, what I will have to do is to do a refund back to the customer and charged again by manually keying in all the discounts. Lastly, before the customer leave, I will have to say, "I am really sorry about the trouble sir".

So far, I do not have any problems with this kind of customers. At least they would not scream at me saying that I did not issue them any discounts. Ha ha

At the same time, there was this other "extreme" customer whom I have encountered. My cashiering partner from the Toys Department once helped me with all the scanning while I did all the packing. After the customer paid and everything, she came back 10 minutes later, informing me that I have forgotten to scan in one of her spoon. So I will have to open everything and counter count the number of spoons, forks and knifes she purchased. I did a refund and charged her with the right number of spoons, forks and knifes. She was very glad and apologised to me for all the trouble caused.

Hmm, what a very honest customer that was. If I were her, I guessed I would have disappeared the moment I found out that the cashier charged me one spoon less! Oops!

Shh~

"Amazing people" - Case Study 6
There is always this group of interesting people who always never fail to ask this question, "Wow, you mean I will have to sign on the machine? That's interesting!"...

I always wonder, what should I reply when they ask this question... So, there was once I told a customer, "Yeah, that's today's technology.", which does not sound very convincing at all. Another time, all I did was to laugh along with the customer. And most of the time, I just smile and continue with all the packing of items into the bags.

Another group of interesting people would ask, "Can I have a bigger bag so that I can put everything together?"...

Huh? I thought that the government have been emphasizing on asking us to go green by using our own shopping bags? Then why are all these people even asking for more bags?

Uh-huh!

"Amazing people" - Case Study 7
Lastly, in this post, I am going to write about a group of people whom I hate most. And they are... *drum roll*
The people who like to say, "Hello, I am rushing for time, can you please hurry?"!

I wonder if they think that they are the only people who are rushing for time...just because they are rich?

There was this once when a colleague came by to ask a question, I have to process and think before I could gave her an answer. Concurrently, I was serving a customer, processing her transaction and packing up her items. She got a bit impatient and told me that she was rushing for time.

Well, it is not as though I am not serving her or something, right?

Tsk tsk tsk!

Now you should understand why my post was titled "Amazing people" in our society. Most importantly, if you happened to be one of those who appeared in my case study, please, and I mean please, DO reflect upon your acts and ask yourself what went wrong. I am totally disappointed by how people behaves in our society. Hmph!

Anyway, in my next post, I am going to talk about more ungracious acts which I have seen and encountered while working with my wonderful company. Do stay tune!

Recently, I have been through and experienced it for myself that not everyone is suitable to work in the line of service industry. It is not easy to satisfy everyone you come across when one is in this line. In addition, one will always have to remember to keep a smile on his/her face even when posed with a difficult situation.

Customers are rude. Especially Singaporeans. Yet, we kept complaining that there is some sort of difference when people from the line of service industry attend to us than to some foreigners. This is the labeling theory of deviance. A label where Singaporeans have been labeled to be rude and demanding when being compared to the foreigners.

I have been in the line of service industry as a promoter a couple of years back. Now, here I am again, back in the same line as a sales associate (a.k.a. cashier), enjoying myself.

Just a few days back, at around 9pm, I attended to a customer (a father who was paying for his daughter's stuff) who was really understanding. I guess by the look on my face (even when I have already tried my best to stay cheerful and look alive), he knew that I was really shag and he asked if I have had a long day. So I told him that I started work since 10.30am and he was caught by surprise. After hearing that, he kept encouraging me and wished for me to have a very good night rest. If only all customers were like him...

On the very next day, as I was helping my colleague (at the next cashier), this customer (a mother with a small boy) was really rude. She insisted that she brought over 10 similar items, but I counted that there were only nine items there. After my colleague processed the transaction with this customer, her son suddenly picked up one item from the floor. Guess what? The customer scolded us for being stupid as we dropped an item on the floor. But, hey! I am innocent, alright? I just came over to help my colleague pack all the items into the bag. I did not even know what was happening before that. Anyway, all I did was to shake my head. That customer was really... It might perhaps even be her son who dropped that one item on the floor! But, forget it. Customers are always right~ What's more is that this company I am working for really treat their customers as VIPs.

Apart from customers, we will also have the senior sales associates, supervisors and managers to "service" for. Some were friendly, while some were really at the extreme. Lucky for me that I was being posted to the Nursery Department instead of the Toys Department. As a result, I was being taken care of by auntie Ally, auntie Doris, auntie Adeline and uncle Leong, while my colleague from the Toys Department was feeling lost.

As I was saying right at the beginning that not all people are suitable to work in the line of service industry. I said so as not all of us are able to find happiness while making others happy at the same time. Some might even complaint that this line was such a pain that they would rather work for some other bigger scale projects.

Perhaps things work both ways. I admit that I do not find any joy in working with machines than working with people. I thought it was fun to interact with others and observe their behaviors. Oh well, maybe that applies only to me (*grins*).

At the bottom line, I would want to say that it is not easy to be working in the line of service industry. We have to face a few hundred different people everyday and we are not robots, we are human too. We do have our own mood! We, like any other professions, are just trying to earn money (in my case, some extra pocket money). So to people who are reading this post, please, and I mean PLEASE, DO NOT BE SO MEAN AND DEMANDING OF US!!

What do you call a person who can be easily influenced by others around him/her?

According to WikiAnswers.com, it's gullible, and according to Dictionary.com, "gullible" is defined as easily deceived or cheated.

However, this does not seem to be what I am trying to imply as a person who can be easily influenced by others. So, what is exactly the word which I am looking for?

I do not know about the rest of the people, but, I, myself, am a person who can be easily influenced by others around me. What I meant is that how-ever the people around me are feeling, they can actually influence me to feel the same way as them. Having said so, I will have to tell you this: "No worries, I know what I am doing.".

Wondered why I said so? This is because I am able to control how I want myself to feel.

Alright, I am sure people must be thinking that I am not making sense around here right now. So, let me explain a little by what I meant by quoting an example. Let us just imagine that I have two friends around me who just stepped out from the examination hall with me. They were discussing about how difficult the paper was and how they could have gotten a lousy grade as a result of the examination. I heard what they were saying, and if I were to remain silence, that would mean that I have been influenced by them. I could have been stepping out from the examination hall feeling confident, but from the comments which they made on the paper, they simply made me think twice on how I actually feel in the first place. But at the end of the day, as the old saying goes, what is done is already done, no point looking back and brood over it.

Right now, you must be thinking that saying is much easier than doing...

I agree with the above statement as it really takes time to condition your thinking and change the way you view certain things in life.

However, recently I have been trapped within my own thoughts and was made confused by three people - who shall not be named. Let me share with you what roughly happened...

I met up with person A on a fine day and we were happily chatting and discussing on a certain topic until A brought out person B into the picture. Since B was now in the picture, we went on to discuss more stuff which were, more or less, centered around B. Suddenly, person C was also brought into the whole picture and even I, myself, was being dragged into it now. Things got complicated, which resulted in me feeling kind of bad as I was sandwiched between A, B and C. In addition, I felt really sad about this whole thing, even up till today.

I would not know if I were right to just classify this as a small matter. However, my world has changed as a matter of fact. The person who once feel that she was really lucky and blessed, is no longer feeling so now. Perhaps A should not have brought out B and C and eventually, me, into the picture. Or perhaps I should take this opportunity to thank A instead?

In one way or another, this matter has made me think about what I seriously need to do about my life. I cannot be living in the world that does not belong to me anymore... I guess, I really have the need to manage my life well. No more relying on people (I promise and I will try...OK?)!

Eventually, I am sure that time will tell the truth and that I will find a route, a new target, and whatever it takes to continue my journey in life...from this moment on.

It's finally the holiday! I have been waiting and looking forward to my May to August holiday since last December. Time sure flies, I have really been hoping for this holiday as I have a lot of things which I would like to accomplish. Just to quote a few, I would like to read a few books, try out a few recipes, take some photos around Singapore, and of course, my list runs on.

It has already been two weeks since my holiday started. No doubt, I have been traveling out almost everyday. Movies, inline skating, primary school gathering. Yes, primary school gathering! What's more is that we had had a great laugh by sharing what happened back then when we were being "tortured" by our "beloved" class mentor. When was the last time I saw these few friends of mine? I guess it has already been 10 years since I last saw them physically. Virtually? No big issue, with today's advance technology, we could easily stay in contact via SMS, MSN, Facebook and etc. We will be having a bigger scale gathering in July, I hope that most of the students from then 5N/6N will be able to make it for this upcoming gathering.

Just to give a sneak preview, alfa 8 will be having their first ever chalet at Pasir Ris from the 22 May to 24 May 2009. I am sure that it will be of so much fun and laughter and of course, not forgetting the great bonding which we will be having over that three days. I sure am looking forward to that!

Anyway, what I just want to say is that good friends are hard to come by.

Friends are the best companion in the world. You do not get to speak to your friends on every other day or meet one another that often. However, when you just think about your friends and the little silly things that you all did together in the past... That's good enough to brighten up your day. The little actions of care and concern from friends cannot be compared to that which come from your family members (as friends were not seen as those who will keep nagging at you on every single day). Treasure your friends as they are meant to be there to fill your life with colours and sunshine. Friends will always be there to lend you a shoulder and help by giving support to one another. Definitely, one will surely feel good to have more friends around. You decide what's best for yourself and always remember to cherish them (your friends) dear!

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Up next, I would like to share this recipe with everyone:

Klepon

Klepon makanan khas dari Jawa Timur, Indonesia. Klepon rasa manis sekali dan asin sedikit. Makanan itu enak sekali.

Oops! There I go again... My apologies, for the sake of the general public, I shall translate what I wrote above in Bahasa Indonesia roughly back to English.
"Klepon is a traditional Indonesian rice cake from Java. The taste of Klepon is very sweet (because of the filling) and a little salty (due to the salt mixed with the granted coconut). Klepon is delicious."

OK, I got rather interested in this dish after I attended the LAB1201 (Bahasa Indonesia 1) Project Day. I was presented with a few specialty dishes from Indonesia prepared by the students, ourselves. I find that it will be interesting if I were to make some kue-kue during this holiday. As a result, I went on to source for the recipe for this dish. At first, I thought that this was simply the Malays "onde onde" which looked almost exactly the same, but after searching on both the dishes on the web, I realised that there wasn't any sweet potatoes in Klepon. Also, I must comment that this dish might look simple, but it sure takes a lot of determination and time in wrapping the dark brown sugar into the flour dough. It took me the whole day to complete a 1.2KG worth of glutinous flour of Klepon!
Anyway, here's the recipe:

Klepon (Sweet Coconut Rice Ball)

Ingredients:
1. 1.5 cups glutinous powder
2. 3/4 cup lukewarm water (*water at room temperature doesn't work)
3. 2-3 drops green food colouring
4. 8 tsp. grated Java dark brown sugar
5. 1 cup fresh-grated coconut, mixed with 1/2 tsp. salt (salt helps preserve the coconut from turning bad)
6. Pandan leaves (Optional, but highly recommended by my mother)

Instructions:
1. Mix the glutinous powder with the lukewarm water and green food colouring into a firm but flexible dough.
2. Pull off one full teaspoon of the dough and shape it into a ball with approx. 1-inch in diameter.
3. Push a finger into the center of the ball to make a hole, and put in approx 1/2 tsp. of the grated sugar.
4. Seal, and roll it back into the ball shape with the palms of your hands.
Prepare all the balls and set them aside.
5. Prepare a pot half filled with water (add in the pandan leaves) and bring it to boil.
6. Drop the balls into the boiling water.
7. Remove the balls with a spoon once they float to the surface of the water and then roll the balls in the grated coconut.
8. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy~


*Do note that...
It will be best to consume the klepon which you have made within the day itself. Otherwise, once refrigerated, the skin (glutinous flour dough) will harden and spoil the overall chewiness of the klepon.

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I have always meant to type this post since 17th October 2008, but due to certain reasons, I am unable to do so until recently......

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The first day of school for my 2nd semester kind of make me feel good after all. I just happened to see my primary school friend who is currently in her final semester in FASS. To tell the truth, it's really GREAT to have someone around here to wave at me. It sort of bring back the good old memories from the past where I used to wave to just anyone around the campus at any one time.

Even so, I will still wonder...
Am I in the right course of studies? It kind of make me feel sad when I see that my friends from polytechnic (those who are now in university), are all doing much better than how I am doing now. I will tend to drift my thoughts towards the grey area in which I will ask myself, "would I do as good as the rest of them should I be in the same course of studies as my friends?".

I know it suck, forever afraid of making the wrong choices and such. But I know that I will have to preserve in whatever I am doing now. I really have to keep reminding myself about that and keep telling myself that I will not regret the choice which I have already made. Will I be able to do that?

It's quite scary at times when people commented my change of course as 'brave'. But I know there are still people who simply think that I actually "chicken out" half way through... YIKES!~

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Now, let me share with you guys what actually happened during my LKY-STEP Award Interview 6 months ago...

I was in NTU, all ready to go into THAT room for the interview. The administrator got me ready and try to calm me down and not feel too stress out about the interview. As you are wondering why I were so tense and all, there were 6 interviewers (representatives from MOE, NTU, NUS, SMU, NP and SP(?)) together in THAT room!

When it was my turn, I got into the room acting totally cool.
Here are the questions which the 6 big shots (one by one) asked me:
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Tell me an event that has changed your life
3. I understand that you have graduated in 2006. So you have been working for the past 2 years. Did you plan for all these? What have you been doing? Why?
4. Apart from your lecturer, can you tell me another person who has inspired you and changed your life?
4b. Apart from what you have mentioned, how else are you being inspired by him?
5. Why would you want to change from Engineering to Arts and Social Sciences?
6. You have done very well in NP, but why (I still don't understand) why you want to change your course of study?
7. What do you see yourself as in the future?
8. I see that you want to be a teacher, but why?
9. Tell me about your hobbies/activities you are involved in.
10. Once again, I am very interested in why you would want to change your course of study to Arts and Social Sciences.

If you have glance through the questions, I guess you know why I wasn't able to get the scholarship. It's just that bad isn't it? I know that I have already given my best shot, also everything which I answered the interviewers came right from my heart and they were the very truth too... But I suppose that I, myself, don't even have a good reason to why I wanted to have a switch of course at that point of time...

Even if you were to ask me again why I switched from Engineering to Arts... I will still tell you this:
I don't wish to spend my whole life "communicating" with electronics components and computers, I wanted to communicate with people, and most importantly, I wanted to help them and inspire their life~!

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From Electronics and Computer Engineering to Arts and Social Sciences, so what's the BIG issue here?

I still have NO idea!!

I seldom see people in university studying Arts when they are actually from polytechnic who have already been studying Engineering for the last 3 years or so. Perhaps I am just that one in a million, or perhaps, I am just as crazy like what Mr. Sunarto said about me. Haa!

Anyway, here's something which Mr. Sunarto had said to me which I think that it is really very very true - So long as you have interest in that particular area, and that you have learn what you are suppose to learn, the results which you achieve at the end of the day doesn't really matter that much. What's most important is actually the process and the learning which is taking place.

It's really very true, isn't it?

So whatever it is, I am currently enjoying the process (even though some seniors told me that this is not honeymoon, and that I am not suppose to enjoy. I wonder...) and I am trying to learn whatever I can learn, so at least I won't regret when I graduate from university.

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Whatever it is, I hope that like me, you will enjoy the process of whatever you are doing now, learn as much as you can, 对得起自己, then everything will turn out to be OK.

Cheers!

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I have seen newspapers, TV shows and even PM Lee's National Day Rally discussing about the ugly side of Singaporeans.

Some examples are - using tissue paper packets to 'chope' seats while they go on to queue and order their food; speaking loudly in the public; digging your nose just when you fee like it, and etc.

I would have considered these as NOT that bad after all, maybe these people are those who have received lesser education than the rest of us and thus, causing them to behave like this out in the public...

Now, consider this:
The other day, my cousin invited me to join her family to Hotel X to have Teochew Porridge Buffet Dinner. I nearly dropped my spectacles while I was there. This was what happened - When we arrived at the restaurant, there was already a long queue outside. But we had already made our reservation, so we were brought in to our table directly. We went to get our food and guess what? 50% of the food trays were empty and the rest of the food available were fishcake, salted vegetables, eggs... There were no fish, no chicken, no pork - as they advertised on the newspaper! And what's worse is the the next table who just went off wasted a lot, and I really mean A LOT of food! The leftovers on their plates were like mountains! So after a while when a staff pushed a tray of food (chicken/pork) out from the kitchen... Guess what happened?

Here's when all the fun begins...!!!

Everyone suddenly crowd around the food tray and started fighting for food!

GOSH!!!

And while they were fighting for food, only those in front will get it. The rest of them who actually queued for the food were left with nothing, but disappointment.

One food tray, two food trays, three food trays...

Everyone repeated the "fight-for-food" act. UGLY SINGAPOREANS!

I cannot believe it, can you?

Moreover, we are in a restaurant in a HOTEL...
How do we expect foreigners to respect us after seeing us carry out such acts?

Since when did our culture become so 'ah tiongs'!?!

As a Singaporean, I really need to find somewhere to hide my face......

Weather status: Thunder with heavy rain.

4 August 2008. 27 October 2008. 3 December 2008.

It might just be any other day, any other insignificant dates for just anyone. But to me, these three dates marks the date of death of my dear ones - my relatives.

Life can be vulnerable, today this particular person might look healthy in front of you, doing things as per normal. Yet the next moment, he might just be gone.

Perhaps this is just part and parcel of one's life journey. You are born to this world, you grow old, you get sick. And once time's up, you just get to go back to where you came from. Life, I will say, is a cycle.

4th August, the day when my bed bounded uncle (my mother eldest brother), aged 73, passed away. I still remember how I was so pampered by both him and his wife when I was still a child. Endless of love, care and concern. But after my uncle's wife passed away 14 years ago (when I was still in Primary 2), my uncle couldn't accept the fact of his wife's sudden death. And that, caused Alzheimer's disease to hit my uncle, making him suffer gradually...

My uncle's condition worsened over the years and eventually, apart from Alzheimer's disease, my uncle suffered certain internal organs infections and failures. As a result, he was bed bounded and had to stay in the nursing home to be taken care of by the nurses and doctors. My uncle couldn't eat, he couldn't speak and he just couldn't remember anyone... I guess, being able to go off peacefully after so long is really a relief for both his family and himself.

27th October, I won't forget this day, I swear! I drove at 120km/h all the way form Jurong West Street 42 to Tampines Street 21 just to send this particular old lady off... No wonder I dreamt of her on the first night of her funeral!

My non-biological grandmother (father's side) was 83 years old. For the last 10 years, she had stroke and cancer, but she still managed to go on for such a long period of time. I have to salute her even though she did not treat me well when I was young. It's a long story to why she didn't treat me well for the past 20 years, so I guess I won't elaborate that kind of stuff over here. By the way, she still owe me my 21st birthday present - a car!

And like I said earlier, I will remember this day because I never get to eat my birthday cake this year!!!

3rd December marks the sudden death of my uncle (my mother's sister's husband), 73 years old. This is still very fresh in my mind - 1st December, after the SW1101E paper ended at 3pm, I went over to NUH to visit my uncle. When I reached the ward, my uncle was having his therapy and stuff. He was OK, just that his lips were a bit slanted and that his right eye could not be opened. It looked as though he really suffered from a stroke or something. However, he was still able to do whatever the therapist told him to. I stayed for the whole afternoon till it was time for dinner, and I went out for dinner with one of my cousin.

I wasn't there on the 2nd December as I went out for movie with my friend. Later in the evening my cousin called and told me that my uncle was in a rather critical condition and that his heart actually stopped for 15 minutes before the doctors and nurses found out. My uncle was sent to the ICU thereafter. Everything was under control that night until 4am, another episode of "heart attack" occurred. That's it, he was entirely on life support machine, and was pronounced brain dead by then.

I accompanied my mother to NUH at around 1pm (only managed to go in the afternoon as I went with my cousin to the travel agency to see if I will be able to do a last minute replacement on her mother's placing for the trip to Hokkaido, and thus, caused the delay) to see my uncle for the final time before the life-support machine was removed from him. The life-support machine was then removed at 3.30pm. Once it was removed, within 10 minutes, he's gone... And after all the paper works and funeral arrangements, his body was sent back to Jurong East Street 21 by 6pm.

Till this moment, I am still rather shocked. He still recognised me when I visited him at the hospital, and the next moment...

So, what exactly is life?

You make your parents happy when you are born...
You create happiness to people around you as you grow...
You share your joy with your partner when you get married...
You get devoted to your family when you have your own kids...
You will be delighted after your kids grow up and have family of their own...
But one day when you get sick, everyone around you got worried...
And eventually you will leave the people dearest to you when your time's up...
Thereby bringing sadness and sorrow to them, especially your lifetime partner who is still trying to question him/herself: "Why you and not me?", after having to go through so much ups and downs for that X-number of decades.
Or perhaps their bounding endures even after death?
Can that happen? And will that happen? I wonder......

Think about it. Treasure whoever is dear to you while you still can, then you won't grow to regret it later on.

May the FORCE be with you always!

"It does not matter if you fail. What's more important is knowing how to get over with it and get on with life."

This sentence is really very consequential, and to a certain extend, or rather, I would say that it is 101% rightful. Say, you have failed once in your life by making a wrong decision, a wrong move, or perhaps it is just purely because of an accident... Would you want to keep dwelling in such a situation? Or would you rather find out what went wrong, accept your mistake and quickly get on with life?

Here, let me share an experience or two with you today...
When I was in Secondary 3 and 4, I would not say that I am not keen in my studies, but no matter how much effort I put in revising for all the subjects (English, Chinese, A.Math, E.Math, Biology, Sci(Phy/Chem), Combine Social Studies & Geography), I still did not manage to get a score good enough for me to do a diploma in my area of interest.

For a period of time, I just could not accept the fact that I scored 23 points for my L1B4 (1 language + best 4 subjects). I would be upset, I would cry, I would be angry with myself, and I did not know how to face my parents and relatives. But after appealing for a course to study in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I successfully got in to the Electronic & Computer Engineering Division.

Right at the beginning, I was quite reluctant to take up engineering courses as I thought that engineering courses were meant for guys only. When school started, everything around me was so unfamiliar. But luckily I met this lecturer, he was the one who guided and encouraged me along the way. He motivated me to go the extra mile, gave me many opportunities for growth and development. Slowly, I began to regain confidence in myself.

I have always remembered what my Biology teacher (in secondary school) said to me when I received my O level results: "Continue to study and don't give up". I am sure that this sentence will always be embedded in my heart.

With all the encouragements, I am able to prove to myself, my parents and relatives that I can do it. If not for my teacher and lecturers in NP, I would not have been able to get over with my O level results as well as the fact that I will be doing an engineering course. From there, I managed to get on with life, and the three years in NP had been the best part of my life so far. :)

How about a second experience which I have had?
Another down point in my life was the transition between polytechnic and university. I was not able to cope when I was in university due to what they called it the 'cultural shock'. I did not adapt to the changes around me, especially the way the lectures and tutorials work in university. I told myself that I should have been able to make it, but...

Just three days before the final examination, I broke down and was being sent to the counseling centre by a lecturer in the university, and as a result, I did not make it for the papers in that semester.

It took me almost a year to get over the incident. The endless number of people whom I talk to, the endless thoughts that kept running in my mind, and etc. With lots of help, encouragements and counseling, mostly from my polytechnic lecturers and staffs, I finally got over with the incident, and I know what is expected of me should this kind of incident happens to me again. I am sure that I scared a lot of people, but trust me, I got on with life and I am a much stronger person now. :)

I will be admitting back into the university this year. And I will be starting school on the 11 August 2008. Pray for me, ya?

While I can do it, I am sure that there are a lot of you out there who could do it too. Wishing you all the best, and always remember that it does not matter if you fail. What's more important is knowing how to get over with it and get on with life. Good luck~

Cheers!

Ever thought that you have seen something like the picture below, but you just cannot recall when you have seen it before?

Yeap, you are right! You really have seen it before... Either on the Sunday Times a couple of years back, or you might have been it here before too. :)

The colour of the cookie looks different?

Oh yes, I made a modification to the ingredients of the original 'Horlicks doggie cookies', and it is now known as the 'Milo doggie cookies'.

Cute, huh?

Everything on the list of ingredients have been left unchanged, except for the part, 80g Horlicks is now 80g Milo. Also, there is now this Duo Koko Krunch in the market whereby the Koko Krunch comes in both brown (chocolate) and white (white chocolate), correct me if I am wrong about the flavor of the Koko Krunch.

Since the ingredients does not include Horlicks, I am sure that it is now safe for all the vegetarians to give this cookie a try!

Have fun baking~!

In life, there is no such thing as being right or wrong.

At times, you are bound to trip over some pebbles or even get hit by huge rocks and fall offside, and that's when you will learn yet another lesson when you climb up from that fall.

Nothing is ever perfect for any single soul on earth.

And true enough, like what my lecturer had told me, one is not able to escape from something known as "decision making". As you get older, the more you will have to decide and make your own decision. Then from this point onwards, this is where YOUR decision is going to lead YOU to YOUR future.

Decision making sure is hard:
1. IF one makes the wrong decision, one should be flexible enough and turn back soon...
(else you will reach the extend of regretting, should you not do so)
OR
2. IF one happens to make the right decision, one is going to make the best of it.

But whichever decision you make, you will still be able to work a way round it should you just BELIEVE in yourself. Just like the saying goes: "Nothing is Impossible".

Decision making often results oneself to be in a dilemma. And this, will be the toughest part in the whole decision making process. That's when your mind will be filled with questions like:
"If I were to choose this, then......",
"But what if I were to do this?",
"What will happen to me if......?",
"Should it be this or should it be that?", and etc.

It will tend to bring headaches should you keep dwelling on those questions which you are trying to get an answer from yourself. Instead, you should just keep moving forward!

Perhaps one should get advices from friends, relatives, lecturers... But keep in mind that they are there only to give you their own opinion, and that they are not able to make the decision for you.

So at the end of the day, you will still be the one and only who could answer to yourself, to your own life. You are the only one who is responsible for yourself, and not anyone else.

Wishing you all the best in your life with all the wonderful decision makings~

Cheers!

Photo taken in Bunbury, Western Australia in 2007.

I believed that when HE created Adam and Eve he would have expected all these to come. HE should have known that humans, once born into this world, will have to face a lot of realities throughout his/her journey of life. Do not blame it on the snake or the apple, but this is how and this is what humans are suppose to be like (i.e. act and behave) when we are first being created.

You must agree that all humans have a head and our head consists of the brain, our eyes, ears, month and nose. The brain is the control center of the central nervous system which is responsible for our behaviors. While our eyes, ears, month and nose are used for our sensory functions, like sense of sight, hearing, taste and smell. Apart from these, we have a mind in our head which is for our thoughts, emotion, determination, will and imagination.

A human is being brought to the world with an innocent and pure mind. But as this human grows up, he/she will start to see what's in for him/her.

You go to school, you have to worry about your homework, class tests, common tests, examinations and your results.

You go to work, you have to worry about your job assignments, the datelines to meet, unreasonable clients, your boss expectations and whether your colleagues will back stab you.

You start a family soon after you have a stable job, and you start to worry about the loans on your house, your car, your credit cards, your kids, and the list runs on.

At times, humans do make mistakes in life. Some are serious offenses where you will be jailed, canned, hang. While some are serious and never-be-forgiven mistakes. But most of the rest are just mistakes which are part and parcel of life where you will get to learn something important at the end of each lesson. Just because of these troubles, problems and worries which you faced in life, you often find yourself deep in thoughts, trying to find a way out of all these sufferings.

I agree that it's easier to say than done as emotion plays an important role too...

But com'on, this is life!

You have got to give and take.
You have got to do things one at a time.
You have got to put yourself in other people's shoes.
You have to give yourself and everyone around you a chance.
You have got to think of what you really want to achieve in your life.

And eventually, you are the only one who can make your own decision in your life. This is the only process where you will learn to grow, learn to make your own decision, and know how to face what comes after making that particular decision. People around you could only give you suggestions and tell you what they think, and decision still lies within your own hand.

But what is most important is not to spend too much time thinking, and thinking, and thinking...

Do not doubt yourself over troublesome decisions.
Do not think too much, do what you think is right, and just do it!

I am not sure why humans like to stay in deep thoughts when things could actually be so easily sorted out.

This article acts as a reminder to all who is reading this, and also to myself, like I said, do not doubt yourself in thoughts, but instead, get over it and enjoy what's beautiful out there! Think about it!~

Hi everyone!

If you are keen and would like to check out the photos that were taken during my trip to Western Australia, please do visit my Flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yifang/sets/72157600407793847/.

Enjoy!

The photo above was taken at the Sentosa Flowers 2007.

Just imagine yourself as a flower, from the day when the seed is being planted into the soil, up till the day when you started growing your own roots, stem, leaves and flowers. But of course, throughout this whole process, your parents will be there to groom you, to make sure that you have enough sunlight, enough water, and also to make sure that insects don't bite off all your lovely leaves.

While you are in the growing process, there are a lot of unexpected events which have already been lined up for you. One example would be, the weather is very terrible, it just kept on raining, and raining, and raining. Just imagine how wet the soil is and that's where you are standing on! Another example would be a very hot and humid weather, and there's no drop of water for you at all!

Can't believe it, can you? Too much water, you complain that there's too much water, and when there is no water at all for you, you complain again for not having any water. But well, that's life! So no matter what, just learn to accept it.

One fine day, when your flowers blossom, the buzzy bees will come to you. That's when you will grow to realise how important you actually are, the bees and other insects will come to you for the nectar as a form of their food. Cool huh?

Apart from this, people will appreciate you too! Everyone who walk pass/walk into your life will take a good look at you, they will look at the B-E-A-utiful side of you, and of course, some will even want to feature you on television documentaries, books, websites, and even photography competitions.

Just before I end my post, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone of yourself who is reading this post that you should feel blessed! For all these while in your life, there are actually so many people who have helped you along the way (especially your parents), learn to appreciate them and not to make anyone worried about you! In this way, when you have master the way on how to appreciate people, others will tend to appreciate you too!

Enjoy life, it's really as beautiful as the blossom flowers! Cheers!


PS. This post is specially dedicated to Mr Sun, thanks for not giving up on me. :)

One way to keep yourself happy, is to treat life like fireworks. Whatever you are unhappy about, just say it out and there's always sunshine after the rain, isn't it? Keeping everything in your heart will not do you any good. Say it out and there will always be a better way out. (I hope you get what I am trying to say, if not, then never mind. ^.^)

It's just like the fireworks, express yourself out, and 'boom!'. You always get different kind of patterns, and it is forever so beautiful.

Cheers! Be happy!!

I really do enjoy myself whenever I get to see fireworks bursting right in front/on top of me. The excitement and happiness, I will never be able to forget it, always. =)

Wow! Stress...

Any idea what are some signs of being stress?

I am here today, to share with you on some signs of being stress. Just for your information, I didn't get all this from the internet or anything, nor did I do any research on this. I just want to share some personal experience with you.

The list of Signs of being STRESS:

1. You have your feelings all mixed up, you couldn't tell the difference on what is right and what is wrong, no matter what people say, you will just agree to it, or simply ignored it, depending on how you feel at that point in time. And when you really sit down and think of what you have done earlier, you will seem to regret your decision.

2. You tend to lose interest in everything. Maybe you are someone who like to go online to look for your favorite Japanese/Korea drama, look at their plot, their story line. But suddenly, one fine day, you just lose interest in it.

3. You are all into your work, and you simply just don't care what's happening around you. What's worst is that when your family/friends talk to you, you ignore them completely or you shout at them to go away.

4. You will feel very down. No matter what's going on, happiness all around you, but it is just so terrible that you cannot "feel" it. Instead, you will just stay there, feeling really bad about yourself and about everything.

5. You lose concentration very easily and start thinking negative, instead of looking at the brighter side of life.

6. You seems to forget everything that is on your schedule, forget to bring this, forgot to do that and etc.

7. You find yourself very lost in the middle of the crowd, suddenly you don't know what you are doing, where you are and your mind just went completely blank.

8. You like to stare into the air blankly and don't know what you are thinking about.

9. You often find yourself crying in the middle of the night, because you are just feeling so bad that you got no where else to "release" and vent everything out.

10. You even went to the extend that when you are in school, you just couldn't remember that you have a lab session going on at that particular time, and still, there you are, sitting at one corner of the campus, trying to do the tutorials which have been piling up... Until the moment one of your friend asked how was your lab session earlier, and you realised that YOU HAVE ALREADY MISSED THE ENTIRE LAB!!

*Phew*

And the list runs long......