Cheap gadgets

Went out on Sunday with my sec sch mates to celebrate Weiming's 21st birthday. Bernard, Fuli and i went hunting for his present in the morning. David couldn't make it on sun as he was having a chess competition. We went to Far East Plaza to find any suitable t-shirts or bags for him but most of the shops were not open yet. We then walked along Orchard Road discussing what other presents we can get for Weiming. I suggested HMV or movie vouchers as his general interests are music and movies. We decided to think of other ideas while keeping the vouchers suggestion as a last resort if we couldn't think of other stuff to buy. After some deliberating, we decided on the vouchers and a cake. We then headed to Taka food section where there are quite a lot of stalls selling cakes. We took note of the price, flavour and design before heading to other places with cake shops. Shops like Bread Talk have cakes that were generally more expensive and we decided on the shop selling cheesecakes in Taka. We then went to buy the vouchers before buying the cake as we didn't want it to get warm. After getting a $20 HMV voucher, we went cathay cineplex to buy 2 movies passes. Then went back to Taka to buy a $15 cookies and cream cheesecake and Cold Storage for a lighter.

We were thinking of where to cut the cake and i suggested level 4 at Centrepoint as few people hang out there and there are benches there as well. We arrived there at 1.15 pm as we expected Weiming to be late as usual. He was indeed late by 45 mins. We put the candles, lit them up and sang him a soft birthday song as we do not want to embarrass him in the public place. Took a photo as well.
The birthday boy is on the left.
We then headed to NYDC at Wheelock Place for lunch as Weiming is giving us a treat. I told him not to splurge his money but he insisted on giving us a treat. We ordered the set lunches and had a rather nice time eating and chatting. The total bill came up to $59.

We played pool at Le Meridian afterwards as we couldn't think of any other things to do. Fuli left at around 5.45 pm as he need to book in at night. The 3 of us continued our game and played for another hour before going to the IT fair at Suntec. After around 30 mins of walking, we reached the human-packed exhibition hall. We forced ourselves into the hall which has brochures and flyers dumped all over the area. David joined us after his competition soon after we arrived. Bernard was interested in digital cameras and he had been wanting to get one since last year. We went to the Sony booth and i was telling him this and that about digital cameras. The cameras were rather expensive and we went to Nikon booth. The cameras were relatively cheap but the model that Bernard wanted was sold out. We went to Olympus, Konica Minolta, Canon and Pentax booths next and Bernard had his eye on a $399 Pentax Optio S50 which has 5 megapixels and 3 times optical zoom. It was the cheapest 5 mp digicam around but the bad things are that it had only 1.8 inch lcd screen, the digital zoom was only 2.8 times and the camera was not very user friendly. Bernard decided to buy it but he have to collect it at Sim Lim Square 3 days later as there was already no stock for the camera.

We then went to the Creative booth as Weiming was interested in mp3 players since his discman was spolit. The Creative Zen Micro was really cheap and the 4 gb was only selling for $299. The 5 gb was selling at $399 and 6 gb at $429. However, the charger and extra lithium battery was not included for the 4 & 6 gb version. They were giving out $20 vouchers for the 5 gb version and Weiming decided to buy it. Only red, orange and purple zen micro are left and he got a red one. I saw a poster at Akira counter selling cheap flash memory mp3 players and i decided to get one for Yew Hua, my JC classmate, as his birthday present since most of the guys are sharing. The 256 mb player comes with an in-built fm tuner & recorder with 1 year warranty and a good price for it.

Went to Suntec food court to have our late dinner before going home.

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Coke...y

Went ktv with ks and ly as ks has a $25 voucher that expires after march. En route to k-box cineleisure, i saw people outside the building distributing free bottles of coke and i took one. In the escalator, i put it in my bag as i did not want the k-box staff to tell me that no outside drinks are allowed inside. Went i reached the ktv room, i opened my bag and took out the coke bottle. There was only a quarterful of coke left inside the bottle. I was aghast in horror as much of the coke had drenched my bag and all the things inside. My magazines were wet, my umbrella was wet, my keys were wet and my water bottle is wet. I took out all the stuff from my bag and headed to the toilet to pour away the excess coke in my bag. It was really my misfortune as i was the lucky one who took the bottle with a loose cap. So there i was exhausting tissue paper from ks and ly wiping my umbrella, bag, keys, magazines and water bottle. I took quite some time as i was wiping, singing, wiping and singing. We sang from 11 am to 2 pm and ks gave us a $2 discount for the ktv session.

Went HMV for a while as ks wanted to check the price of Penny's new album. Liyuan went for work after that while ks and i went chinatown. I was accompanying him to check the price of Penny's new album in the cheap cd shops there. It was selling at $16.90, only a buck cheaper than that in Sembawang Music Centre. Ks went to the NUS open house with jy after that. I went home as i do not have any other activities later on.

Spent the rest of the day chatting and playing online scrabble.

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Found it

I was vigorously flipping through the recruit section of classified and reading the tiny words of every advertisement for employment as i had nothing on on thursday. It was quite encouraging as there were quite a lot of suitable jobs that i'm interested in. I called a frozen food company as they were recruiting a driver to send their food. The pay is $1100 per month but the working hours are quite long. Have to work during Sunday as well. I called other companies and found another job as a telemarketer. It was stated 6.5 per hour and the work place is near Buona Vista. I found that the working hours is 9 am - 5 pm during weekdays. I was rather interested in that job but i continued to hunt for other good job offers. Found another telemarketing job in Bugis that requires us to promote mobile phone services. The pay is quite high at $8 per hour. The working hours are 10 am to 5 pm, not too long. Some of the other jobs have already been taken up when i called the companies, even though the advertisements have only been put up for half a day. It doesn't really matter to me as i have a list of jobs to choose from already.

Went to Bugis with Daryl and Liyuan this morning for the job interview for the telemarketing job. I called them but they told us that the person who is interviewing us is only coming at 2.30 pm. It was quite a downer as we met up at 11 am and had 3 and a half hours to spare. We were wandering around Bugis Junction aimlessly and went to the nearby hawker centre for lunch. Liyuan had to go back at 12.30 pm as he got work at 1 pm. Daryl and i headed to Ritz Apple Strudel for dessert after our lunch. I didn't want to waste my money and i was looking at Daryl eating the yummy strudel. We spent around 45 mins in there talking about jobs, driving and everything to waste our time away. Our last stop is Kinokunia before heading to the telemarketing company.

We went inside North Bridge Commercial Complex 03-01 and waited there for some time as the receptionist is rather busy on the phone. When we asked about the telemarketing job, she don't seem to know anything at all and asked her superior to attend to us. He had to clarify some stuff with his colleagues over the phone as most of their colleagues are at the IT mall in suntec. He then asked us what time we called and who we spoke to. I told him the time but did not know who i spoke to. He seemed puzzled and told me that all the job vacancies are already filled up. My heart sank immediately upon hearing that as i thought we had a wasted trip. But a moment after he said that, he continued telling us that he is sorry but they do not need people to distrubute flyer anymore. I was wondering when did we ask for jobs to distribute flyers and asked him whether the phone number that i called in the morning is their company's. He replied no and i knew we were in the wrong place. I called the telemarketing company immediately and asked the exact location again. We were not in the wrong level or unit but actually in the wrong building.

I was really amused by our folly and we went to the North Bridge Centre, the building beside North Bridge Commercial Complex. There was already an interviewee there and the staff passed us the application forms. We went for the interview together and i even took out a file containing my A-level results, O-level results, Testimonials in Sec Sch and JC, and SAT score. It was really kiasu for me to bring that but i guess that was the only stuff that can increase my chances of getting the job as i do not have any job experiences before. However, the interview only lasted a few minutes. After we told the interviewer that we are only going to work a few months, the person told us that they are only looking for people that are able to work long term. He told us to consider for the temporary job which pays $6 per hour with night working hours on weekdays and a full day on one weekend. We told him that we are not interested after contemplating for a few seconds. Left off in a huff and we are complaining to each other about the amount of time wasted on this interview which didn't work out.

Next up, we called another telemarketing company in the same building as well. It was in level 4 and we proceeded up for the interview. There were around 12 people in the interview room whose age group are around ours. We looked at the whiteboard which was written "$8/hr weekdays 7 pm - 10 pm weekend (sat/sun) 11 am - 6 pm" Daryl and i looked at the application form and found out that it was actually the same company. We left promptly and were still jobless. I had checked out the buses going to the telemarketer company near Buona Vista and there is a bus going there from Suntec. We walked in the hot and humid weather arriving at Suntec City rather drenched. Took some time before finding the bus stop and Daryl suggested going to the IT fair. Since both of us were still rather sweaty, we proceeded upstairs where there lies a throng of people. We only managed to walk along the open booths on level 3 and did not go into the exhibition hall on level 4 as the amount of people inside was simply astounding.

After 30 mins of bus journey, we got off at the Normanton Park bus stop and walked towards Rutherford building. The building was much more developed and "high class" compared to the companies in Bugis. We filled in the application form and waited for quite some time for the interview. The people who interviewed both of us was very friendly and she even brought us to take a look at the place we will be working. She said the company pays $7 per hour for A-level students and the working hours are from 8.30 am to 6 pm. Both of us were satisfied with the job terms and she told us that we will most probably get the job. Daryl saw his sec sch friend working there and they had a chat before we left. He told Daryl that it is quite stressful working there but it doesn't bother me at all since i came from a high working pressure environment in Mindef. She will schedule us for a half-day training before we can start work.

I should be starting work next thursday if nothing crops up. I finally got my first job. Got another good news when i came home today. My driving license was mailed to my house.

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I need an aim

Monday, i finally got myself working to find a job by flipping through the classified section of straits times. Called for a $1400 monthly car washer job but there is a age restriction of 30 to 45 years old. Called for another admin assistant job and they only want females. Called for some other jobs and they require us to go down to a place for interview. I got quite sick of calling already and i resigned to slacking in front of my computer, as usual. I need a job man!

Tuesday, went to watch Assault on Precinct 13 at ps with my bmt friend, jun yu, as i had to return him his mp3 player which he accidentally left in my bag around 2 months ago. Some of my jc classmates were clearing leave and off that day and we decided to watch Hitch at night. It was one of the rare occasions we met up during weekdays as most of us were busy in ns before. Went to newton food centre to have our supper after the show.

Wednesday, went with ks to have our weekly swim at safra mt faber. It was a sunny day, perfect for suntanning. After swimming 20 laps, we had our lunch at archorpoint. Got nothing on tomorrow or friday yet. I need to earn money after spending so much since we started clearing leave a month ago.

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Another weekend

Saturday, went to shop for kp's birthday gift as his bday is on sun. Most of us arrived late as expected. Clarence and i went wandering in paragon and heeren looking for some suitable gifts while waiting for derrick and gs to arrive. After they arrived, we did more window shopping and wandered in the various shopping centres in orchard and finally decided to settle it in Far East Plaza. It was already 6 pm and my back became really sore after walking up down left right in out of the shops in shopping centres. Had quite a long time driving on friday and the long walking aggravated my back muscles. The 4 of us were rather indecisive and it took us a long time before buying the 1st gift. Derrick was having his own shopping spree as well. He bought a $100 bag from project brothers shop and a $20 t-shirt in far east. The 2nd gift was purchased at pacific plaza. (I cannot reveal what the gifts are as he might be reading this) Finally, we finished our long and tiring shopping trip at around 8.15 pm. We were all very hungry and were finding a cheap food court to have our dinner.

We wanted to go kp's house to pass him his gifts but he was not in and we were driving on the road aimlessly. We were on Scotts road, then bukit timah road, then upper bukit timah road, then went past my house, exit to bke through dairy farm road, entered kje, went choa chu kang, then jln bahar, and finally lim chu kang road. I suggested going to hunt for the paranormal but the rest were not keen. I took control of the steering wheel after gs got sick of driving. It was only my 2nd day of getting my license and i was driving! I drove into ntu and derrick became the tour guide of the gigantic school. He also showed me and clarence where to get off from the bus for our medical checkup later this month. We got off from the car and walked around the canteen near the medical centre where there were quite some people studying there. We went inside a building and there was a big study room with a few people inside. I can say that the environment in ntu is rather conducive for studying. We left after a short while and decided to go back home since derrick still has quite a lot of incomplete schoolwork. I drove gs and myself back home and was travelling up to 100 km/h on the expressway. It was harder to control the car at this speed and a slight movement on the steering wheel will have a rather big effect on the direction of the car. The steering wheel was harder to turn compared to the cars in the driving school though.

Sunday, went orchard to watch Team America: World Police with weiming. I was stuck in a traffic jam along scotts road and orchard road and was late for 40 mins. I was waiting for the elevator at cineleisure when i saw Michelle Chia and Shaun Chen waiting as well. They were holding their hands and i was rather surprised to see them at such a public place. There were quite a lot of people who noticed them but did not ask for autographs or such things. We went inside the same lift and i was standing beside Michelle Chia in the lift. It felt a bit weird as i had never been so close to a celebrity before. She was about a head shorter than me but i did not look at them directly. The elevator's door is a mirror and i was catching some glances of them from the reflection. I was also listening to their soft but audible conversation as i was beside them. They were not speaking chinese, in fact they were speaking cantonese, i think. I don't know cantonese at all so i don't know what they were talking about. I got out from the lift at level 4 while they went to level 5 to buy movie tickets i presume, as Shaun pressed level 5 when he was on the lift.

A rather uneventful weekend for me.

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Yeah!

I've made it, the nervousness nearly wrecked me today. I had a revision before my test and the wait between after my revision and the start of my warm-up was 1 hour. So i was sitting outside the traffic police counter waiting and reading my booklet anxiously for time to pass. My bowels became too active and i had to settle some big business. ;) I was sitting with other testees and i think i was the most nervous guy there. My breathing was raspy and i was shaking my leg non-stop. I just kept waiting and waiting, until 2.35 pm when i went down to print my allocation slip and do the warm-up before the test.

Well, it was much better when i was driving. The instructor brought me to do the circuit requirements first before heading out to the main road on test route 4. It was generally ok, only missed checking a few blind spots. After the warm-up, we headed back to the driving centre. It was another wait and we were all seated at the waiting area. After 15 mins, we were ushered into a room where a tester gave us a brief on the test. A person is chosen to help to select the test route and tester for everyone taking the test. I was given test route 6 and my tester is Lai. After the selection, we had to wait again for our tester to come and bring us to our car. I was the second last person to be called and it was already 3.50 pm.

My test had finally began and i tried to be calm although i was drenched with cold sweat. The circuit was not bad coz i didn't have any mistakes. Then, out to the main road. Everything was smooth until i had to change lane on bukit batok road. There were quite a lot of vehicles and i was not too sure whether the car behind me was close enough for me to lane change. I changed my lane anyhow since the traffic light junction was rather close and if i didn't change my lane after the traffic light, i would be on a turn left only road. I was quite familiar with this route and there was also a junction with a stop line on a slope and using the handbrake was essential. Guess what, i stalled the engine when i was about to move off. Nevertheless, i quickly restarted the engine and headed off. Stalling of engine does not deduct you any points at all, unless you stall your engine in the middle of a junction or delay the vehicles behind you. A reminder, don't panic when you stall your engine, just quickly clutch in and turn the key. I was on my way back to the driving centre and was turning left when a car U-turned and appeared on the right lane behind but adjacent to me. I was rather worried because i did not notice the car that U-turned behind me. On further thoughts, i had the right-of-way and it should be the car that gives way to me. I parked the car and went up with the tester back to the same room. The first thing that he said to me was "Your driving is not bad, can drive." He gave me 6 points and a pass. I was thanking him profusely as i couldn't control my happiness.

Tips for doing well during your driving test:
1) Your circuit must be perfect. The parking, the s-course, crank course, directional change and emergency brake. Circuit is the first thing to be tested and if you don't do well for your circuit, i'm afraid the tester will have a bad first impression of your driving.

2) Please wayang and turn your head and eyes everytime you lane change or turn. This is a must. The tester will be sick of seeing you checking safety that he might imagine you checking even if you forgot to check once or twice.

3) Make your tester feel safe when you are driving. Don't follow too close another vehicle, slow down before a bend and slow down when there is a hazard in front.

4) The most important advice, be alert. Take note of the green light when there is red man flashing on the road perpendicular to yours. Always be wary of taxi and buses if they are in front of you. Keep your eyes open if there is any vehicle parked on the side of the road.

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Give me Luck!!!!!

Yes, my big day is tomorrow. I'm really a war of nerves when i think about it. Hopefully it doesn't rain, hopefully there are no taxis disturbing me, hopefully i don't meet too many amber lights, hopefully i don't be too anxious, hopefully i don't "garang garbo", hopefully my tester is very lenient, hopefully my tester likes me, hopefully i don't be blur, hopefully i freaking pass!

Went swimming at safra mt faber with ks, went suntec for the career fair after that, went for my driving revision and went to watch The Woodsman at cineleisure with jk. I wore slippers to my driving lesson and it was a mistake, i had to use more of my muscles to control the clutch, brake and accelerator. My shin was really quite sore after the lesson. I asked my instructor to grade me and he noted most of my mistakes. He gave me a marginal pass and told me the mistakes i committed. Those are the mistakes that can be avoided and i really hope there i will not make any careless mistakes tomorrow. I need to get it over and done with!!!!!

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Movie Maniac

Watched Million Dollar Baby with Weiming on mon night as both of us were quite eager to watch the movie after it won Best Picture. We caught the 9.15 pm show at Bishan and left the theatre at 11.45 pm as the show was slightly over 2 hours and there was the usual 20 mins of advertisements in gv cinemas. We got to the mrt station at 11.50 pm but there were only trains heading to ang mo kio and toa payoh. I was originally planning to take a train to newton where i can take a direct bus back home but since there was no more trains going there, i shared a cab with weiming as he was going back to camp. The taxi driver took a long way and we went all the way down upp thomson road, going a rather big round to yishun. The midnight charge had already kicked in and i was looking at the price meter every 20 seconds. I reached home about 20 mins later after dropping off my friend at yishun and the fare is a whopping $20.75. My wallet is bleeding!!!

Went to watch Sideways at ps with jiekai today. I was late as usual because of the unpredictable waiting time for buses. Really can't stand the waiting time sometimes as buses seem to come later then usual when i'm in a rush. I was almost late for the movie as the show starts at 3.30 pm instead of 3.55 pm. I had checked the internet for movie timings for ps and it displayed 3.55 pm which was in fact the wrong timing. I arrived at 3.48 pm and because of the 20 mins adverts, i was spared of missing any part of the movie. Had dinner with jk after the movie and walked around for a while before we left the place. He was heading to the Substation for a free short film screening from 8 to 10 pm while i was going Cineleisure to watch another movie with daryl and liyuan. The movie is a french film, Les Choristes or the Choir Boys, which is nominated for Best Foreign film in the academy awards. I was the first one to arrive and liyuan was really late as he was caught in a traffic jam in the PIE. Daryl and i went into the theatre first and told liyuan to call us to pass him the ticket when he arrived. When he arrived around 20 mins after the movie had started, daryl tried to open the entrance door but it was locked. Ly had to call the staff to unlock the door before entering.

There, i've accomplished my mission of watching most of the movies that i want to watch during this oscar season.

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