Monday, February 25, 2008
Hello readers, I'm back after a two-week hiatus.Seventeen more days of freedom remain, and I really got to find ways to spend the remaining days fruitfully.Starting last Monday (18 Feb), I've been training up my 2.4km run three times a week.But sad to say, my timings are still very far off the silver standards for NAPFA [not to mention IPPT], clocking on average of 14:40 when silver award requires under 13 minutes.Hopefully my timings for tomorrow and subsequent sessions will be much better.Training for army life aside, I collected my newly-made plastic specs with hooks included at Crystal Optics in Hougang Mall this morning.And honestly speaking, it looks better on me compared to my original pair because of its more rectangular frame.Also, I finally got my pay for the temporary assignment [Watsons Hougang Mall - concourse] today, which is like exactly one month from the first day of work. Kinda long, huh? >.<Last but not least, Going bunking will never be forgotten the minute I'm outside.So having collected the specs and eaten lunch, I headed straight there, following which was five straight hours of AuditionSEA.Unfortunately not many of my buddies were online, but doesn't matter cause I had a wheel of a time chaining perfects.Some examples:(1) x10 on Canon Groove (105 bpm). Not too impressive since experienced chainers can hit x15 or even x20 easily, but x10 is already a pretty decent chain in my opinion.(2) x8 on Sweetie (115). Early window period (the space bar is pressed earlier than the normal fourth beat of the song) makes it tough to chain perfects, but still possible if you're focused.(3) x7 on Lie (100)In addition, I managed to perform a Level 9 Finish Move for the super fast Love Mode at 190 bpm after so many tries. Guess I got to practise more though.Alrights, that's about all I have to say for today.For now though, it's time for more of Audition. (:
those memories. 20:07
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The countdown to army life gets serious now.Just thirty more days to go.And to tell the truth, besides going swimming once in a while, I haven't been training up at all.Perhaps I'm finding it difficult to lift myself out of the holiday mood arising from CNY?Speaking of CNY, some last minute changes on the second and third day of festivites meant that we visited two more homes other than the usual trip to my grandmother's residence on day one.Which meant more red packets to collect, but I didn't get to keep a single cent eventually so it didn't really matter.I remember around this time last year, the GCE 'O' Level 2006 results were released.Since the results for the 2007 batch had already been released on 24th Jan, chances are the 'A' Level 2007 results should be released late this week, if not next week.Hopefully I would have scored decently enough, otherwise I might have to turn to poly life after I've completed my NS.Alrights, I'm off to dinner for now.
those memories. 18:51
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
* Reunion with my Nokia 5700 - 2/2/08.There were 20 customers infront of my queue and thus the waiting part alone already consumed over 1.5 hours of my precious time.When my name was finally called, it turned out that it was my memory card that should have been operated on, not the phone itself.Perhaps it was due to the memory card only having a 90-day warranty and hence only the phone, which was still under warranty till July, was given a system upgrade.Therefore, I had to fork out another $29 for a 1 GB memory card.Come to think of it, that was actually quite an affordable price though.* Bunking on 2/2 and today.Just felt like dropping by PCBunk more often cause I won't have a chance to go there for four whole months from March 13 onwards.Well, I've finally cleared the level 20 licence test in AuditionSEA today.And it wasn't smooth-sailing, I failed this test thrice when in all my previous levels I cleared the licence in one shot!My skills certainly have deproved...* Chinese New Year activities.Genting getaway is no more, and that means staying in Singapore.Other than visiting relatives' homes on the first day of CNY (7/2), nothing else has been planned for now.Kinda sad, but true.
those memories. 22:52
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Back at last to update.
For the past eight days (25/01 to 01/02), there was a sense of deja vu as I returned to work at Watsons Hougang Mall.The main difference from the work I had performed there in Dec 2007 was that this time, I had to take on the role of cashier at the concourse area.While I admit this is somewhat better than toughing it out in store, I wouldn't want to assume this role ever again.On two of the eight days, the till checks at the closing gave me a major scare.One was due to shortages of credit card charge on 28/01 (over $37), the other was cash shortage of $40 on 30/01 but was resolved by voiding one of the $40 transactions.Fortunately I didn't have to pay for these shortages, save for a $5 penalty on 29/01 due to a $7 cash shortage.These events were perhaps a telling sign that I wasn't fit to be a cashier after all.My colleagues had given feedback that I tended to rush through transactions which wouldn't do myself any good at the end of the day.But what to do? It's hard to change my work habits once I get the hang of it. =.=
During the middle of last week, my handphone crashed.Crashed as in the memory card being corrupted and when I tried to reformat it, the phone decided not to obey instructions and instead chose to shut down automatically.So I'd sent it to Nokia Care Centre over at Century Square for repairs.And I received the good news last night that my phone will be ready for collection today.Very efficient indeed, taking only four days although the staff told me it will take about a week to get the phone system upgraded.Chinese New Year may be coming, but the celebratory mood seems to be absent among Singaporeans this time round.
Here are three reasons why that's so.- Many Singaporeans are understandably concerned about rising inflation that causes prices of necessities to rise substantially.
For the record, the Consumer Price Index for January 2008 is expected to show an increase of at least 5% compared to the same period last year.
- In addition, the revision in taxi fares has also become the talking point of 2008.
The most controversial change, arguably, is the adjustment in peak period surcharge from $2 to 35% of the total fare.
Now, that will burn a big hole in the pockets of unsuspecting travellers, particularly those on long distance journeys.
Reason being a $20 journey will now cost at least seven bucks more, and that doesn't even include ERP charges and other extras.
- The final nail on the coffin? The unravelling sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.
The full impact of this crisis is expected to be felt this year, and financial markets are already feeling the heat although only one month of 2008 has passed.Case in point: Straits Times Index - Opened at 3,482 on the first trading session this year but only managed to close at 3,007.80 yesterday, a loss of over 13.6%.I guess the abovementioned three factors are more than sufficient for the average Singaporean to feel pessimistic about the economic and social prospects for the rest of this year.Hopefully, things will brighten up from the second quarter onwards. (Though at this point of time that sounds like wishful thinking?)
those memories. 10:35
