Relieved, satisfied, happy

I am still currently unemployed but the wait is over!

Failed my IPPT miserably today though.

A combination of good news and rather insignificant bad news today. A burden just got lifted off my chest knowing that I am finally wanted for a job position after quite a number of failed applications since late last year.

Thankfully, I am not faced with the situation of accepting jobs that I am not really interested in.

Hope there are more good news arriving on 22 May when the exam results are out.

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Overcome with emotions

It was my last day of work and i had a farewell lunch with my repair team at Xing Wang Hong Kong Cafe in Pasir Ris. My supervisor treated all of us and i am really appreciative of it.

It was nice of people whom i do not know so well before and they took the chance to wish their good lucks and goodbyes to me before i leave. I will miss my colleagues who were closer to me during my 5 months attachment dearly.

Joan i really enjoy your hearty jokes and will miss you a lot, Joyce i will always know what a wonderful person you are, Weifu i will miss your gossip and jokes, Hui Peng i will remember you as the feisty mamma who is so friendly and outgoing.

Sigh.... I was so unwilling to leave the office at the last moment. How i wish that i could spend more time with my colleagues who treated me so well during my attachment. How i wish that i could get to know better some of my colleagues who are not as close to me in my department.

Truth be told, i was counting down the days 2 weeks before my final day in my company. I wish that i wouldn't have to wake up so early everyday and trudge through the boring work everyday.

As the days crept closer and closer, the more i cherish their company and i felt more and more 'she3 bu1 de2" to leave the company.

My journey back home was full of emotions and i'm glad to know each and everyone of them in my department.

Feeling a little lost right now. Wondering what i should do during the 1 month before i go to Holland. So to all my friends, just call me up anytime before i go on exchange!

Life goes on.... I am proceeding to another stage of my life.

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Effort

I spent the whole of yesterday doing all these. I wrapped the mini food hampers myself! They are cute right? Glad they appreciated it. Written each of them Christmas cards as well.

Thankfully, my mum helped to wrapped the presents or else i would have slept really late yesterday.

Mini food hamper

Presents!

I'm like Santa Claus today. 25 people, that's the most i've given in a day.

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Department Christmas Dinner

We had a department Christmas dinner at Noble House Restaurant in UIC building on Monday after work. Each of us had bought a christmas gift for exchange as well.

Christmas gifts exchange

After arrival at the place, some of us were pleasantly surprised that it is a big private room with ktv system available.

Our wonderful manager

Singing ktv while having dinner

After our full dinner, we listened to the songs sang by my colleagues and we had a good time there. There was a surprise birthday celebration for Zoanne and Kl as well.

Celebrating birthday

Department photo

They presented me with a farewell gift as well and i was pleasantly surprised. This week is my last working week.

My farewell gift

My lovely colleagues

My jovial colleagues

It had been fun working with the whole bunch of them and i enjoy their company. It had been a good experience and i had learnt quite a lot.

Friday will be my last day of work and i have prepared farewell gifts for everyone in my department.

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Colleague's Wedding

Headed over to my colleague's wedding at an Indian temple in Katong area on Sunday night. It was my first time attending an indian wedding as well as many of my colleagues' first time.

Indian Temple

Some of my colleagues were decked out in indian costumes

Groom walking towards the stage for the matrimonial ceremony

Bride and groom on stage sitting on the throne

The ceremony lasted quite long and many of us headed downstairs for food in the midst of it. They were doing some rituals or traditional things on stage and we could not really see what they were doing.

Having dinner in the eating area

After having our dinner buffet style, we headed back up to the multi purpose hall for the ceremony and soon, it was time to give the newly weds our ang baos or wedding gifts.

We left soon next and it was an interesting experience indeed to attend an indian wedding.

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Assessment over

Did my report over the weekend and my ntu supervisor came over yesterday to collect the report and talk to us.

1 more month of work! Will be looking forward to the days that i can wake up later than 6.45 am.

Will be looking forward to catch up with friends that i haven't seen for quite some time coz of the exam period as well.

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Stressed

My ntu supervisor just informed us today that he will be coming to my company next wednesday for the final visit. It wasn't his fault that he had to change to an earlier date though. "They" just informed him that he need to submit the grades by the end of this month.

Gotta rush and finish the final report plus logbook by next tuesday.

Good luck to all my friends during this exam period as well!

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A380 Touch Down

After work on Wednesday, most people in my department went to the rooftop of our company to view the A380 arriving at Singapore. The expected time of arrival was 6 pm and we waited until 6.45 pm before seeing the jumbo aircraft.

Flat buildings

Airport buildings

A hint of sunset

A brightly lit aircraft with flashing lights

It is the A380 indeed

Fat and short were mainly the adjectives used to describe it

The whole thing was over in 1 minute and we were a little disappointed that it was over so fast after waiting for 45 minutes.

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A surprise gift

I was stunned, lost for words when the head of my section presented me my birthday gift. I was like "What?", followed by a sense of appreciation to my colleagues. I had just known them for 5 weeks and they are so nice to buy a gift for me. It's a Adidas watch and i'll wear it to work from next week onwards. Thanks to Wf for helping to choose the present and printing the birthday card. Really didn't expect it and it was a nice surprise indeed.

Watch

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Department Head Farewell

The head of our engineering department is leaving soon and we went to Samy's Curry at Dempsey Road after work on Wednesday for the farewell dinner.

Group photo before our dinner

The food soon arrived in buckets and was then individually placed on each banana leaf.

The yummy food

There were still more servings topped onto my banana leaf and we were swarmed with so much food on the table. The spices really made me sweat and i guess i won the most "buay tahan spiciness" award.

Trying to finish the massive amount of food

I ate slowly at first and gradually overcame the spiciness to finish all the food on my plate. My stomach was filled to the brim as there were also additional dishes on the table.

Went back home after the satisfying dinner. The food is rather expensive though.

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1 Month of Work

Been working for more than 1 month at my company already. There had been ups and downs in the first few weeks but things are looking at the brighter side recently. I'm getting along fine with my supervisor after all and he does not give me menial chores for me to do. He teaches more relevant and useful stuff to me and i do learn quite a bit from him.

4 more months to go! Sent my van to service this morning at 8 am and luckily i was the first customer of the day. They did not take quite long to secure the engine cover back onto the undercarriage and i was off to work, late.

Anyway, i've been researching the places to go during my exchange and i feel so excited when i see the photos of the cities. Can't wait to go Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, Venice, Rome, Budapest, Florence, etc. Gotta wait until feb next year though.

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Updates

I guess i might be a little too harsh on my supervisor earlier. He doesn't really harbour bad intentions on people but likes to tease people in a mocking way. One of my colleagues had been really patient and helpful in teaching me many of the functions and processes of SAP. Thank you Joan, appreciate your help a lot.

Got the photos of the crab dinner at Eng Seng Restaurant from my colleagues.

The yummy black pepper crabs

My colleagues keep saying that i look like my colleague beside me

Group photo

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The Good and The Bad

I'll start off with the bad. I can't stand my supervisor anymore. I almost died of anger and frustration in the office today. Why must my supervisor be that particular guy? He looked harmless and jovial in the beginning. Among the 20 odd people in the department, anyone else would be a FAR better supervisor. I'm sorry that I'm not your HIGH quality student on IA who knows everything. You certainly expect too much from someone who only knows the basic knowledge of aircraft engines.

Yesterday afternoon, he demonstrated a step of creating standard text into the SAP system. Today, i performed the same step and got scolded for it. He said that was just an example and I should use my brains. I'm sorry, with no clear instructions from you, what else did you expect me to do? I'm not a SAP software expert either.

Next up was the killer. He asked me why i did not make a change to a column in a particular table and what the column represents. Thank you for asking me a question which you never taught me before. You are the best teacher ever! I replied i don't know as i really do not know what that column represents. He retorted in a sarcastic manner and asked me "What's your name?" I almost burst into flames after that sarcastic, insensitive, and plain rude remark. Am I a 14 year old boy to you? Obviously i ignored the sarcastic question and continued amending the errors.

I was breathing so heavily after that conversation with my supervisor. I couldn't take it anymore and was so burning with rage. That's just the dark side of working life. Lucky ones get good supervisors who teach their employees PROPERLY, while unlucky ones suffer in silence under the control of domineering bosses.

I'm sorry i am unable to suffer in silence. I must let out my frustrations or else I'll get heart attack very soon. Complained to my closer colleagues in the office and i definitely felt much better after their advice. Even the head of the department knows about the stress i am getting and he advised me to take it easy and ask more questions when in doubt. I did ask quite a lot of questions to my supervisor before as he seemed quite friendly before. But he will nag and nag at me complaining that I "no good ah". I took it in my stride during the first week as i didn't have too many tasks for him to complain about. Now, the effects are full blown as SAP requires quite a lot of expertise and some of the processes are very tedious.

Anyway, my other colleagues are really nice, warm and friendly. Went out with the whole bunch of them after work and we went to the famous Eng Seng Restaurant (actually it's a hawker centre) along Still Road for crabs as Richard from Rolls Royce is leaving soon. The crabs are really fresh and the sauce is thick and spicy. I prefer the black pepper crabs as it is loaded with pepper and the black sauce mixed with crab meat is heavenly indeed.

Next up was Siglap for coffee. We chatted until about 10 pm and i sent 3 of my colleagues home after that. Had a frustrating day but enjoyable night. Hopefully things will turn for the better next week. (At least my supervisor did not write bad comments in the IA logbook)

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Department Dinner

After work today, my Engineering department went to Bliss Restaurant at Punggol Park to celebrate Ms's birthday and to bid farewell to Hl who is leaving our department. The attendance is very good and almost all of us from our department were there. We had a good time there and the food and ambience are quite good as the restaurant is just beside Punggol Lake. Fetched 2 of my colleagues home after the dinner.

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1st Day of Work

As the news of my Industrial Attachment came just last thursday, i guess i'm still a little mentally unprepared for work.

Anyway, i woke up at 6.30 am today and reached the company at 7.45 am. Luckily, there wasn't much of a jam along PIE towards Changi Airport. There seem to be much more vehicles heading towards PIE (Jurong). There is a multistorey carpark in the company and the charge per day is just $1.

The people in the company are very friendly and i am attached to the Engineering Department. Can't say too much in details about my job scope, etc as some of the info might be confidential.

Anyhow, it was a very relax first day at work and i feel lucky to have friendly and nice colleagues.

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Confirmed

We have been informed by Singapore Aero Engine Services Pte Ltd that you have been accepted for Industrial Attachment. Your IA with Singapore Aero Engine Services Pte Ltd will be from 23 July 2007 to 22 December 2007.

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Freed From Work

Today is my last day at InCall Systems and i've finished all of the 600 records after burning midnight oil on Sunday night (stayed up until 5 am and had 2 hrs of sleep) and yesterday night (stayed up until 3.20 am and had 4 hrs of sleep).

Luckily, my supervisor had a half day off today and i had much time to do the data entry instead of calling people. Finished the heavy workload after 3 hours of busy typing and i'm freed from work tonight!

Have to pack my stuff later for my Batam trip from this Wed to Fri. Cya!

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Extremely Hectic Week

It had been quite a long time since i last exercised. Work is a chore but studies is horror. Don't want to study all the hard modules that will be coming up in year 2.

Tue was spent outside and i've been doing data entry at home tonight and yesterday night. Each record that i key in equals to an extra $0.40 and i've got a total of 600 records to convert from hard copy to soft copy. Extra pocket money! 400 more to go.

I've also been planning for the batam trip which has hit some unforeseen circumstances. My condolences to Edwin's grandma who had just passed away.

Back to work!

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Job

Went to International Plaza with Ks today to sign up for job agencies and the parking there was really very expensive. $2 per half hour! We chop chop go many agencies, fill in the application forms and went for a few interviews as some agencies have job offers on hand. 2 hours went by and i paid $8 for the parking. Please never park your vehicles in International Plaza ever again! There are a few public carparks around and they should cost 1/4 of the price at CBD building carparks.

Anyway, i don't think i'll find a job anytime soon since i'll be flying off on 16th may in less than 2 weeks time. Reservist will be next on the list as i'll be heading to Tanjong Gul camp from 4th to 9th june. I wonder how much pay we will get for our reservist.

I'm suffering from shortage of cash syndrome.

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Back to Work for 1 day......

$31.50

This is the mediocre amount of money i earned today. The people from the company delayed my reporting time from 12 noon to 3 pm at 10.45 am when i had already left the house with my mum and sister. We were going to the temple to pray and were planning to having breakfast after that. The delay shifted our plans and we headed to Suntec to have porridge lunch buffet at Joaqium for only $9.90 per pax. The selection of food is quite a lot and we ate a rather large amount.

I got quite a bit of time to spare and we went shopping in Suntec before heading to my workplace in Novena. Coincidentally, i saw Kelvin there and had a brief chat with him. Headed to my workplace in Novena next and i was dispatched to a room where there were people pasting stamps on envelopes. I was thinking the job is very slack until the staff decided to transfer me to the office upstairs. I was then taught by a perm staff to refile documents from a stack of files and to label them.

An hour passed very slowly and i was really bored and tired of the repetitive procedures. If i was not moving my hands constantly, i would have fallen asleep immediately. While i was complaining constantly in my head about the job, i was suddenly asked to go back downstairs to help out with the envelopes.

My thinking was then twarted as a result coz there were actually tons of files for me to clear and my job would be quite secure if i were to continue doing it. When i was on my way back to the room with a lot of envelopes, i saw Miss Wong Sheau Ying! She was my jc gp tutor and is nowing working at The Learning Lab. She forgot my name and class, haha... I don't blame her though, considering the amount of students she had taught. I thought i used to be prominent for constantly sleeping in class? I guess not, ha... We had a very brief chat and then i went back to work which is to fold the application forms and slot them inside the envelopes. It was mundane as hell but luckily there were people to talk to inside as no boss were eyeing on us.

When we finished our pile, we were basically sitting around doing nothing as the forms were not printed out yet. I wasn't complaining at all, in fact i was hoping the forms would never come so that we can slack all day. My wishful thinking indeed, actually the chores we did were so simplistic that any secondary school kid could do. The job is an insult to our intellect right? Actually i wouldn't care less as long as the pay does justice to our qualifications.

Our nimble hands accomplished the task quickly after a batch of newly printed forms arrived. We wrapped everything at 7.30 pm and i had only worked for 4.5 hours. I asked our manager whether there will be work for us to do tomorrow and his reply was a probable no. No more work after half a day of work. Just shoot me. Diao...

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