Hmm...where should I start...
WorkMy current internship has been pretty...intriguing and entertaining - in many different ways. Haha. The Public Relations field is full of... interesting people. The people I have been working with are very different from those who I have worked with. Don't get me wrong, they are a nice bunch, enjoy fun, food, work and life. Since its an Australian based company, and also because of the nature of the job, they are largely westernized and have a strong aesthetic sense.
Anyway, I had a unique opportunity last Wednesday to go for a fine dining experience. Our clients are chefs who specialize in traditional Italian and French cuisine. We held an editorial night for them and invited journalists and editors from the media for a culinary experience - hoping in return they would feature our clients on their specific publication.
It was a 4-course dinner with Beetroot with caramelized onions, Aglio Olio, Osso Bucco (amazingly delicious) and Tomato sorbet & Basil panna cotta. Each course was served with an appropriate wine to supposedly complement the taste of each course. If you don't already know, Huiling is a hopeless drinker yet eager to know how to drink, she took the risk of trying. First up was Champaign for the mingling session. Everyone was complementing how ______ (they practically exhausted all words possibly found in the dictionary to describe good wine) the Champaign was but when I tasted it, I was trying not to let my eyes pop out. Then there was Sauvignon Blanc (for Beetroot), Gewurztraminer (for Aglio Olio) , Shiraz (for Osso Bucco), and some ice wine for the Sorbet and Panna Cotta. I thought I was fine after taking in the somewhat negligible amount of wine but when I was on my way home, I could feel my world spinning.
Birthdays
Edmund's birthday at Costa Sands - the theme was 'geek'.
Ed, you put our friendship into test by making cool me dress like that. Hahhahaa.
I cannot stop laughing when I saw this picture. Look at Juan!!! Thats like...classic man!
And I felt damn cheated when I saw this! I thought we agreed to look blur in this photo (I must have misunderstood)! Gosh I look retarded.Anyway, Happy 21st Birthday Ed! You've been a great pal, remarkably kind and nice, happy, and funny at the most unexpected time - I'm thankful having you as an ODAC mate!
May you have a happy and fulfilling year ahead. You might also consider playing less PS. Haha
Shingaling's birthday at Aranda Country Club - the theme was 'masquerade' (right?)
I don't see any photos uploaded on facebook yet so that got to wait. I reckon it should turn out well since we had really cool masks.
Her party became a traumatising night. The Odacians somehow got hold of The Scream's masks and that was seriously unnerving. They scared me sooooo many times. I wonder if there is bad blood between the Odac guys and me. Why must they always, unfailingly do something to me on everyone's birthday. I got splashed with water during Ed's and I got Taupoked during Shing's. HELLO WHERE GOT GUYS TAUPOK A GIRL ONE! Ok, the only 'welfare' I got before getting taupoked by around 5 guys was 1 pillow on top of me. Luckily the weight was concentrated on my legs and the person directly on top of me.
Predicting that I might get wet by the Odacians within the next hour, I ran for cover by going home! Nah la, I would have stayed over and have HTHTCOT (finally remember what that means) with them if not because I had work the next day.
It was fun, and heres to wish you a Happy 21st Birthday Shingaling! I shall not reiterate what I typed previously for Ed less you say I plagiarized. (Technically, I can't plagiarize what I wrote, can I?) Haha nah, but Shingaling, you really have been a great friend to ODAC. I think its apparent to all of us that you've put in much time and effort in keeping us together, and we thank you for that. ODAC is close to all of us yet we have to inevitably move on to the next phase of life. Despite all of that, I think we remain surprisingly close, and I think we owe majority of that to you. Thank you and may you be happy.
Chinhao's birthday at his own house
Again, I do not have any photos. I met Jo and Spenc at SengKang to walk to Chinhao's place. There, I met my JC classmates and finally, Shiling. We played Wacko and haha, its actually quite fun but very tiring because I kept losing. I honestly think I did not lose that many times. Doesn't mean that they cannot figure out which name I called means I did not call a name.
We left pretty early and Yekwai gave us a leave home. I am very sure ChinHao will never ever come across this blog but in view of consistency, I will still wish him a Happy 21st Birthday over here! (Haha I bet you guys think I am damn insincere. But not true, he really will never know this blog's existence)
Ok, are you still with me after my droning paragraphs above? If so, good! Be prepared for more:
My results are all out - the ones I thought I would flunk did pretty well, the one which I thought I could score did exceptionally poor. I was so shock when I saw my contracts grade such that I did not even feel a tinge of sadness. I was boiling mad - I don't understand which part could have gone wrong, even if I did, was it that serious to warrant a B-!!! My tests grades were above average, I studied exceptionally hard for it, I enjoyed the paper, I came out of the examination hall feeling confident yet the final grade could not even reflect anything similar to that! I kept refreshing the window thinking that they must have made a mistake in the grades and maybe correct it thereafter but they never did so I finally resigned to that grade.
BUT to my anger yesterday, I realized I was 0.1 mark from getting honours. This was what i received from my course adviser:
Dear Huiling,
All students who completed Part II in 2008 and get the GPA >= 75 (B+) will be invited into Honours Programme.
Unfortunately, you are not eligible this year. Your GPA is 74.90, slightly lower than the requirement. As the number of invitations is limited, we just invite students with GPA: sharply 75 up.
0.1 MARK! I AM THAT CLOSE!!! Its not even HALF A MARK! I could not let Honours go just like that. So I spent 2 hours coming up with an email to persuade her that she should let me get into the programme. It was a page long, telling her how much I wanna do it and blah blah blah. Thank god I got an appraisal from the previous law firm I worked with last year which hopefully would be of some use. Seriously, after all the reasons I have given her to just overlook a mere 0.1 mark, and if she still refuses to let me in, I have nothing to say.
Also, I received an email from the partner of WP saying that they have significantly reduced the internship places this January (Carol said many other law firms have been cutting down a lot on pupillage and internship places too, probably because of the economy). But from what I've gathered from his email was that I needed to prove to him that 1) I am intending to work as a lawyer in Singapore after I graduate. 2) My conjoint degree is recognized in Singapore. 3) The route I have to take to sit for the bar in Singapore.
Sigh, it seems as though I could have a chance to work with them if not for the economy. There is still a slim possibility since he bothered replying and a pretty long one too. Plus he is one of the partners there and hopefully he can see my desire to work with them. Fingers cross - I've already sent an email to check with the Dean and law society to confirm the relevance of my degrees. I hope I'm able to get 2 good news this coming Monday.
FamilyAre you still with me? Woa, I'm impressed. Haha.
My mom confiscated my Sim card yesterday for no apparent reason. She probably quarreled with Dad and decided to vent her anger. Since I was late for work, I left the sim card on the table and ran off to work. I was supposed to meet Carol for lunch but without my sim card in my mobile, I can't retrieve anyone's number. So during lunch, I rushed to the nearest convenience store to get a prepaid card. 7/11 required my ID which I didn't have on me so I thought going directly to the Starhub retail store would be able to solve that problem.
I took a train down to Raffles Place (nearest Starhub) and tried buying off them. Unable to contact Carol, I started panicking and that darn sales person was moving 1/2 the speed of any average person. I asked impatiently if that was the place to buy a Sim Card and he said yes but I have to wait because he is meddling with some stupid system. I flared up and demanded to buy it immediately because I was needed to contact people urgently and I have to get back to work soon. He then asked for my ID and I said I have none. He thinks I'm a foreigner and said that he can't sell it to me based on IDA requirements. I started 'quarreling' with him, and narrated how I came all the way from Tanjong Pagar and blah blah blah. Saying that its ridiculous because I can't get any contacts out of my phone. I was so frustrated and said, ' SO HOW?! If you don't want to sell it to me, how am I going to get my contacts out of my phone?! How to call? HUH? This is ridiculous you know. I take a train from Tanjong Pagar and I have to rush back for work now. This is urgent. I NEED TO CALL NOW.' If you know me, I am not usually like that and would not be that confrontational to people who are just doing their job. But I was so agitated then - thinking that if my mom wasn't in her crazy mood, I wouldn't have to go through all that trouble. At last that guy lent me his sim card so I could retrieve the numbers. That wasn't the end but its too long to type. Anyhows, my 1 hour launch break became a 1hour marathon.
Ok, I really should end. Haha else I would go on and on and on about soo many other stuff. But basically, I have learned a lot this year. A lot, which I hope I would remember and stay with it.
