haizz... as the weeks go by, the only letter I got was a letter from the Army.... no varsity application letters from either U's .. :( depressing lar .. I know jealousy is a sin ( and i pray to God, take this away from my heart.), but I can't stand but feel that way everytime a friend tells me he/she has received an ACCEPTANCE letter .. haizz.. - OUT-

Someone once asked me (actually a few people have) "what have u learnt from working at the convenience store?" My answer ofcourse is NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING. I mean I can go along the "perfect/ model" answer and bullshit - oh yes, I have learnt alot, how to manage accounts, how to handle hard customers, chit chat with customers and bla fucking blah ! but when alls said and done, all that is just crap cause if I still have to "learn" how to keep accounts and talk to customers, I must as well blast myself back to primary or secondary school... (and I'm not saying that I'm perfect at any of this, just that I haven't LEARNT it as a new skill, but just improved on already innate skills.

I have worked there for a month now, and what can I say? I has been a loooong month (or quite short come to think about it.) I did not even realised till my dad told me.. and I guess if there is any lesson I've learnt is I guess the importance of money and hardness to MAKE money. I'm not saying I'm a spoilt bastard or what (and I can gladly say that my monthly expenses can be considered one of the lowest amongst friends, given that I don't buy branded clothes or eat out often. I only realised I had 2 G-Star Raw shirts in my closet cause I'm guessing my sis or mum stuffed them in there [as a 21st surprise????]. However, I will go on to say that I could better my spending habits.

In the past it was just like no money than ask and it shalt be given, hence i did not really bother much about the hardness of earning $ (and honestly, the 7-11 parttime job was just bullshit. at $4 an hour... my freaking monthly allowance pays me more than that crap, so i guess it was more of a sideline for fun job cause i was still gettting my allowance then.) In Beijing for 3months, though I got 100sing a month, I had my dads atm card, which meant much more then a 100 a month, and in ChuiZHou for the last 5months OIAP, lets just say I was living like a king... though I got only 600sing a month.

NOW however, my only source of income is 50bux a day for TEN HOURS which is about a 1000 a month with no allowance. I guess its not THAT hard of work, but the pay is not that high either. But at 50bux a day, I really REALLY REALLLLLY consider VERY fucking carefully before I spend. Rob told me that day that 8bux was nothing for the rental of a graduation gown, but i think different (i mean 8bux really is nothing, but its jut poly diploma for crinyg out loud... and not that Im a GPA 4.0 scholar, which is why I don't feel that its worth spending the 8bux for the gown... for my first degree perhaps... but for poly, its a NONO) its like giving an amateur a Leica (giving an amarteur a $4000 camera.., obviously he/she will turn out crappy photos and underuse the thing, just like I will be underusing my poly gradgown/ 8bux WHICH takes my slightly over 1.5hours to earn). Then last week I ate at some atas place at vivo.... freaking $70 for japanese FINEdining crap dinner.. which consisted of like 5 or 6 dishes and not like 5 or 6 maincourse, 5 or 6 pieces of sushi.... u get the deal...

SO if there is something I learnt from working?? I guess its how to be more CHEAPSKATE. I'm beginning to understand my dad a little... and I guess the saying 'like father; like son' is somewhat true.

Just received my Enlistment notification, requiring me to report to duty 13th June.

Guess I'll be spending my 21st 24th June in a resort island off Singapore.

Glad I can finally be of some use to my nation :)

tHe kiNda sHiat tHaT aInT GoNNa gEt yOu LaiD

I've been mending un convenience store for 2 weeks now, and have compiled a brief profile of some of the kuan's and the pattern of customer's around these lanes.

Standard - The people here belong to what is known as the "S" quadrants, which means the specialists (engineers, scientists, small biz owners etc.) Ofcourse there are "E" (employee) quadrant people which are the clerks, recpetionists and security guards, but they form the minorities. They all go for qi and pi (cheap cheap cheap....) or not they will (chip chip chip)

Gift of touch.
the great one gave each and everyone of us 5 senses. This catagory of customers particularly enjoy partaking in their sense of touch. they will come into the store, look around, bend over shelves, TOUCH my items, SHIFT my items, PRESS my items, and some even take it to the next level. They bring the fucking items to the table, and just LEAVE it there, later conveniently CHANGING their minds.

Remedy - rearrange EVERY drink again, cause they like to TURN the can drinks so that the logo is off centre or faces backwards, I have to turn back the can drinks so the logo faces forward. Sometimes these guys TOPPLE the entire fucking row of drinks (like dominos) and I have to rearrange it back. Ofcourse for the higher level people, I have to freaking put back all the goods from my counter to where they belong...

Plaintiff's
These fucks stand around in the store and COMPLAIN - literally. (and there is a pattern, they normally take the form of school kids in uniform or ladies in their late 20s to mid 30s..) They have abit of the touch syndrome, but atleast they bother to put back the goods on the shelf. They will look around the store, and then "share" with me their evaluation of the goods.... They will even at times tell me how EXPENSIVE the goods are (when for a fucking fact I know we sell one of the cheapest cause I do actively go around checking prices)...

Remedy - turn on my MP3 and enjoy the music, ALWAYS smile at all customers, old young ugly good or bad.

The tourists
These assholes are not tourists (or foreigners) per'se. They are just ordinary folks like you and I. But they are FUCKING off the market cause they come in here and ask me retarded questions like what is this (and point to Vitasoy..) That day a lady with strong indian accent brought a SNICKERS bar over to my counter and fucking asked me if it contained peanuts... Some of them also allow me to guide them about the shop and introduce the goods to them. They end up with the touch syndrome and the plaintiff problem. Luckily, most of them still end up buying something, however small or cheap that something is.

Remedy - Just continue to SERVICE them...

Nice
These people are part of the few who actually is one reason why I don't shoot myself because of the others. They come in and first thing they give me, is a smile and a big hello or good morning/ afternoon. Another type of these people do not give me the morning/afternoon or hello, but they bother to engage in conversation with me when I talk to them, and not just the usual (uhmm, yea its good, i think to too etc.) they actually give me their own opinions and input.

Remedy - there is no remedy, why would I wanna fix such nice people.

Time sure FLIES ...
Has it been 5 years already since we first met at Mt. Doom ?
5 Years of going here and there ?
Through my JC years and yours,
through my poly ?!

I really did not realise this till you reminded me so ...

This year will be our 21st Bdae's,

Cheers to another 50 years !

I blew it ...

Ok, so I've been da boss of the Cafe's convenience stall for a week now (ok the real boss is my mum). Anyways, OH MY TIAN! if this is what she has been doing for like years.... i respect her... really straining on my (*hot) body... the routine is like 5am/530am wake up, go work open doors. 12pm help wait the cafe upstairs while my dad takes over the convenience store downstairs for 2hours (the lunch peak hour). After 2, we begin to close up lunch. I go dry some dishes and then eat my lunch. Then its down to the convenience store again to relief my dad and let him eat his lunch and do his stuff. ALLLLLLLL the way till 7pm !

Then I've been going out every day till like 12+ cause I can only start meeting people at 8pm so 4hours is just right. Then I go home and bath. At about 130-2am I go to bed, and the routinous RAT RACE starts again ! My gawd (I used gawd and not "God" so does that still count as using His name in vain ?????) ... this is worse thn studying to Ngee Ann's Exams please... And I watched Vantage Point that day after work, and I fell asleep in the cinema AGAIN (the other time was when watching semi pro). I apologize to the 2 peeps who was sitting beside me at the theatre (u know who you are :P).

Here comes the part where I screwed up. There was this SWEEEt lady about early to late 20s I guess, whoes like in uni and doing some experiments or SOMETHING. She came in that day and left her pouch (handphone ? wallet? Camera?) on the table after paying. Later when she came back and asked for it, I said I didn't see shit. Nearly gave her a heart attack (i'm one mean muthafucka) then when I FINALLY told her i was kidding, I could see that she wanted to smack me liao, but she was so kind to say "oh ok, you really gave me a fright but thanks". Hontoni why Ken Ken did such a thing... why I did it I do not know ............ :P I guess its not that bad cause it was April 1, but the outcome was not as what I expected ...

OK! Its another round of photos the top food photo was taken by this guy called Alwin (WHO OWNS a 100mm CGW Lense) but using my 400D setup. Still life apparently is his (mezzo)forte. Thus he is IN MY VIEW, worthy to wield the 100mm of a lense.

Talent Quest 2008 Photos have been processed at Caffe Cypress 101 Pick N Go whilst Ken Ken slacked about without customers... ...

BTW, can you guess what this is ????!!!!! (taken by the CGWrong 100mm Lense :D)

Some fried shit huh ?!

Maybe fried skin ??

Crepe ??

Part of an alien space craft ?!?!?!??!?! (yar... in spore, and I so happened to be there with my camera and with alwin's lense .... what the odds...)

but NOOOOOOOOOO

its !!!

Cheeseeeepie
I mean Roti Prata from Niggi's Cheese Prata ! For once the odds were in my favor, and the group actually anonymously voted to go to the shop NEAR MY HOUSE (at 1130pm, which is good for me)

Some random guys hands. I forgot who liao, but its not mine (or not the last finger on the bottom of the picture would have a scar... ) [remember this, incase in future u need to identify my body recovered from the burning wreck of a LAMBO or from the surgery table of a heart bypass operation .......] CHOY ge lao sai lar ..