So turns out the rumors I alluded to in an earlier post has turned into reality. Since the information is readily available on the internet, I shall just post the link here and you can come to your own conclusions --> link
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Met up with Laurel and Flora on Thu evening for dinner at Sun With Moon Jap restaurant at the Wheelock place. I used to think of the two of them as the flower girls of my class (kind of like flora & fauna). Anyway, I haven't seen Laurel for so long I don't even remember the last time we met. It was fun catching up and all. The restaurant was also very good. The food was beautiful and tasted good too. So, I was not too surprised by the bill at the end.
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Last weekend, we had a mega Cornell gathering in town. I believe about 20 people turned up in total, although at slightly different times. I gave the waitress a shock when I said I wanted a table for 14 people. haha... thank goodness we were early so we did not have to wait long.
On the same day, I also attended Confluence. It was on a much bigger scale than last year. However, I was slightly surprised by the low turnout during the Ministerial dialogue. I was even more surprised when there was no reception after the dialogue. Well, I wasn't too hungry, but they had one last year so I was expecting one.
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Saturday, July 28, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Experiences 2007 (& other updates)
I remember going for the very first Experiences when I was in JC1. That would be 1999. Today I went to Experiences 2007 with my sister. The event has come a long way. There are a lot more sponsors now and it is held at Suntec City, a much bigger place than the small hotel ballroom 8 years ago.
I saw quite a few familiar faces at the fair. Of course, I recognize the people at the Cornell booth. They are mostly the rising Seniors, and the rest looked like the rising Sophomores. I saw some Stanford Masters students, but they were mostly at the booths of their undergraduate universities. I also saw Jason and we chatted for quite a while. I also met a few of my sister's friends. A very nice experience on the whole. =)
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Back to the topic of work, someone commented that I should be wary of my previous entry about work. Maybe it is better kept offline and untrackable. Re-reading it, I guess it is ambiguous enough and not really that bad right?
Anyway, work is looking better. I think Huixian's comment is very true; it is a good chance for me to learn about the whole company and see how I can make a positive contribution. Another friend also told me that I should take the chance to learn as much as I can; after all, there must be something useful to be learnt. That is very true.
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Caught the lastest Harry Potter the other day. I enjoyed the show. It was definitely much better than the book. Some parts might not make sense to non-fans, but it is quite good as a standalone show. Might be going to watch Transformers with my colleague/schoomates tomorrow. That should be an even better show from what I heard from people who've seen it. =)
I saw quite a few familiar faces at the fair. Of course, I recognize the people at the Cornell booth. They are mostly the rising Seniors, and the rest looked like the rising Sophomores. I saw some Stanford Masters students, but they were mostly at the booths of their undergraduate universities. I also saw Jason and we chatted for quite a while. I also met a few of my sister's friends. A very nice experience on the whole. =)
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Back to the topic of work, someone commented that I should be wary of my previous entry about work. Maybe it is better kept offline and untrackable. Re-reading it, I guess it is ambiguous enough and not really that bad right?
Anyway, work is looking better. I think Huixian's comment is very true; it is a good chance for me to learn about the whole company and see how I can make a positive contribution. Another friend also told me that I should take the chance to learn as much as I can; after all, there must be something useful to be learnt. That is very true.
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Caught the lastest Harry Potter the other day. I enjoyed the show. It was definitely much better than the book. Some parts might not make sense to non-fans, but it is quite good as a standalone show. Might be going to watch Transformers with my colleague/schoomates tomorrow. That should be an even better show from what I heard from people who've seen it. =)
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Week 2
Tomorrow is the start of my 2nd week of work. Let me try to recall what I have achieved so far:
1. Attended new staff orientation.
2. Leave by 5.30pm everyday.
3. Talk to colleagues and my supervisor.
4. Settle random admin stuff (access passes, laptops, etc)
The 1st week has been really boring. It is actually very tiring trying to stay awake when there is nothing much to do. The coming week might be better since training is going to start. But I am not too hopeful.
The talk with my supervisor confirmed some of my fears. I can understand why the first few weeks of work can be boring. After all, I am untrained in the specifics and I have no job responsibilities. But if your supervisor tells you that he was not expecting you to join his team, that he is going to work out your role over the next few weeks, and that you should keep a lookout for opportunities where you can jump in and make a positive contribution, the red lights should probably start flashing rapidly. Am I unwanted and not needed?
There are some other disturbing issues, but they are speculative and probably confidential. It sure is difficult to master up some enthusiasm when the tunnel seems to have no light at the end.
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Moving on to non-work related events, last week was really tiring with meetings on Wed, Thu and Fri evenings. Singapore is getting crowded. We had to wait until 8.30pm before we got into the Thai restaurant at Marina Square. I am never ever going to eat there again. The service was atrocious, and they should at least employ people who can understand English. But it was good catching up with my friends. =)
On Sat, I went with my brother to Funan center so he can exchange his Xbox 360. Can you believe that it is going to be his 3rd set? The first two both had the fabled 'Red Ring of Death'. No wonder MS is going to suffer more than 1 billion in repair costs for the console.
Funan center was amazingly crowded. We had to wait for about 30min just to get into the carpark because it was full. Either I am too used to the wide spaces in the US or Singapore has really gotten super crowded. I was feeling very unhappy waiting in the car to get into the carpark and suddenly felt really alienated. Maybe I am starting to feel the effects of reverse culture shock.
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Fri's meeting with my Cornell friends left me feeling kind of nostalgic. It was almost as if we had never left Cornell and not met for more than a year. Granted it was not the whole gang, but it was nice to be able to sit back and chat about random things. It almost felt like we were back in college again.
Someone once commented that when we are overseas, we do not get to choose our (Sgrean) friends. We just get stuck with whoever is at the same school. But I guess in this case, my gang turns out to be pretty good.
1. Attended new staff orientation.
2. Leave by 5.30pm everyday.
3. Talk to colleagues and my supervisor.
4. Settle random admin stuff (access passes, laptops, etc)
The 1st week has been really boring. It is actually very tiring trying to stay awake when there is nothing much to do. The coming week might be better since training is going to start. But I am not too hopeful.
The talk with my supervisor confirmed some of my fears. I can understand why the first few weeks of work can be boring. After all, I am untrained in the specifics and I have no job responsibilities. But if your supervisor tells you that he was not expecting you to join his team, that he is going to work out your role over the next few weeks, and that you should keep a lookout for opportunities where you can jump in and make a positive contribution, the red lights should probably start flashing rapidly. Am I unwanted and not needed?
There are some other disturbing issues, but they are speculative and probably confidential. It sure is difficult to master up some enthusiasm when the tunnel seems to have no light at the end.
-----
Moving on to non-work related events, last week was really tiring with meetings on Wed, Thu and Fri evenings. Singapore is getting crowded. We had to wait until 8.30pm before we got into the Thai restaurant at Marina Square. I am never ever going to eat there again. The service was atrocious, and they should at least employ people who can understand English. But it was good catching up with my friends. =)
On Sat, I went with my brother to Funan center so he can exchange his Xbox 360. Can you believe that it is going to be his 3rd set? The first two both had the fabled 'Red Ring of Death'. No wonder MS is going to suffer more than 1 billion in repair costs for the console.
Funan center was amazingly crowded. We had to wait for about 30min just to get into the carpark because it was full. Either I am too used to the wide spaces in the US or Singapore has really gotten super crowded. I was feeling very unhappy waiting in the car to get into the carpark and suddenly felt really alienated. Maybe I am starting to feel the effects of reverse culture shock.
-----
Fri's meeting with my Cornell friends left me feeling kind of nostalgic. It was almost as if we had never left Cornell and not met for more than a year. Granted it was not the whole gang, but it was nice to be able to sit back and chat about random things. It almost felt like we were back in college again.
Someone once commented that when we are overseas, we do not get to choose our (Sgrean) friends. We just get stuck with whoever is at the same school. But I guess in this case, my gang turns out to be pretty good.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Update
Hello, it's been a while since I updated anything.
It's been quite a wild rush since my last post. Commencement came and was over. We actually managed to finish packing the apartment, but at the cost of canceling the last hangout session at our place.
Then it was off to Vancouver with my parents for a bus tour that took us on a 2600km (I think) round trip to the Rockies and back. The view was great, the food mediocre, and the bus ride horrendously uncomfortable. I will try to upload some pictures when I find the time.
And now, I have started work.
Not much (positive) comments. The place is near my house, so that is a big plus. Hm, and that's about it.
Should be watching Fantastic Four 2 tomorrow evening. yes yes, it is a very old show, but well, I totally missed Spiderman 3.
It's been quite a wild rush since my last post. Commencement came and was over. We actually managed to finish packing the apartment, but at the cost of canceling the last hangout session at our place.
Then it was off to Vancouver with my parents for a bus tour that took us on a 2600km (I think) round trip to the Rockies and back. The view was great, the food mediocre, and the bus ride horrendously uncomfortable. I will try to upload some pictures when I find the time.
And now, I have started work.
Not much (positive) comments. The place is near my house, so that is a big plus. Hm, and that's about it.
Should be watching Fantastic Four 2 tomorrow evening. yes yes, it is a very old show, but well, I totally missed Spiderman 3.
