New Year Resolution

This year, I celebrated the New Year by watching a movie alone today, for the 1st time. Since I watched the 1st film of this sequel (National Treasure), I've eagerly waited for the 2nd one, National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The solving of puzzles based on cryptic clues & the rich culture & stories hidden in the historical objects are simply too astonishing & exciting! Although the plot & ending are similar to the 1st one, nonetheless I felt it's still worth watching for those who like adventure-type films. Really hope there'll be a 3rd one!

Looking back the Year 2007, much changes have taken place, whether it's appearance, emotions or life perspectives.

My New Year Resolution for Year 2008 :

#1 Good health for my family, relatives, friends & me

#2 To have better communication skills & more expressive

#3 To have better memory, coz my volatile memory capacity seems to be slowly increasing

#4 To be more decisive in everything

#5 To have better self-discipline, priority & time management

#6 To be more creative in thinking & doing things

#7 To gain weight, coz I'm too skinny

#8 To travel to overseas more, so as to gain wider exposure

Welcome Year 2008 - The Year of Hope

一个不一样的假期

So fast, the post-IA holiday is ending soon. For the 1st time, me acted as tour guide bringing poly pals, Aik Leong, Sahara & Aida (her sis) for a 3D2N Tanjung Pinang shopping-cum-sightseeing trip (14 - 16 Dec).

Here are some snapshots of it.

. Day 1

Me anxiously waiting at the jetty entrance for the arrival my VIPs. My uncle then drove us to Hotel Laguna @ Jalan Kampung Bintan to check-in. From there, we walked to my house at Jalan Gambir (near market area) to meet my family & the tour advisors for this trip, my sis & cousin, haha... Ooh, they also met my mischievious pet, Robert (a monkey). Then we walked to Putri Minang Padang Food Eatery for lunch! Yummy!

Next, the shopping spree began! We shopped from market area to Bestari Mall to Bintan Mall to Jalan Wisata for clothes, pants, caps, bags & shoes. After a tiring day, we went to Gerai Selera Rasa Restaurant for dinner. Haha, it's 历史悠久, existed since my primary school days. Oh, it's famous for it's delicious soya sauce chicken, rojak sauce chicken & BBQ fish!

Dinner @ Gerai Selera Rasa (Jalan Tugu Pahlawan)

Me, Aik Leong, Sahara & Aida

Herna (my sis), Melen (my cousin) & me

. Day 2

Haha, free breakfast at Hotel Laguna & photo-taking session at dining area & hotel's top floor.

Hotel's breakfast area, with a view of Tanjung Pinang town area

Part of Mesjid Raya at the background

Sea-view with Pulau Penyengat at the background

The island on the left is Pulau Penyengat, in which a yellow palace once resided by Malay Sultanates during the 18th century is located. It is said that the palace is made of eggs! But too bad we didn't have time to visit it.

Next, the most exciting of all... the resort! I booked a car for a day to ferry us around. The 1st stop is Bintan Agro Beach & Spa Resort!

The Vegetables & Fruits Plantation at the resort

The Fishing Pond

At the fishing pond, we saw a notice that horse-riding was available. So excited! We went to the reception & guess what's their reply? The horses weren't available that day as they are mating! -_-|||

Next to Mini Zoo

Me with The Hawks @ Mini Zoo

Pool-side view

Happily sun-tanning & enjoying sea breeze

Feeling high after sipping the thirst-quenching coconut juice

Practising how to kayak...

Hmm, you can see how strong the sun & wind were then

Under the shade of a coconut tree, with seafood restaurant behind

Having chendol & otak-otak at a stall @ Trikora Beach

On the way back from resort, we stopped at Kedai Pak Jenggot for a quick lunch of rice & chicken soup. Nice!

All looked tired while having lunch

After lunch, we headed straight to The Ramayana Mall! It's the largest shopping centre in Tanjung Pinang (although still small in comparison to the malls here). Here, they "borong" lotsa clothes.

After an amazing 3-hour shopping spree, we headed to Sungei Enam Seafood Restaurant for dinner!

Yummylicious seafood!

Saw the gong-gong on the right? It's a must-try seafood in Tanjung Pinang.

Happy faces after a tasty treat!

. Day 3

Early morning, we went to the market with my wet market adviser (my bro) to buy foodstuff, e.g. fish/prawn crackers, sotong snacks, kue lapis, Indomie instant noodles & cooking ingredients. It started raining soon after we're almost done. Luckily!

Then we rested & chatted at my place, while waiting for rain to stop. Next, photoshooting session at the jetty!

In front of Tugu Proklamasi (Proclamation Monument) near the jetty

Aik Leong, me & Herry (my brother)

Then it's time to say goodbye.

The VIPs & the crew who made this tour possible

(Back row, from left to right: grandma, aunt & mum)

After the tour, I've been helping out at the shop & also helping my auntie doing stock-checking for Christmas & New Year goods. What a busy 2 weeks back home. Tasted most of the wonderful delicacies by my mum & grandma. Shiok!

While in Indo, got a call from Pfizer colleague inviting me to his house for New Year Party. Yay! Haha, looking forward to it & also the ATP Chalet in 2008 :)

Post-IA Reflection

Finally, my IA @ Pfizer has ended today. It's such a unique experience, as I have my own projects to do & along the way, helping out colleagues with their work while learning things outside my project scope. The people there (esp my dept) are friendly, humourous & treat me very well, way beyond my expectations. It's a nice environment & I've really enjoyed my stay there.

On my last day of work, I transformed into a small Santa Claus, distributing thank-you cards & thank-you-cum-X'mas gifts to my dept colleagues & some others. I was so glad & 感动 from their wide smiles when they received the cards & gifts. Ironically, my sup was the last one to got it, as he was busy throughout that day & not around in the office. I waited, waited & waited until everybody went home. I looked around, feeling 舍不得 & slowly walked out of the office, praying along the way as I inched down the stairs, hoping I could bump into my sup & tell him about the gift & bid him farewell. Heaven answered my prayers! I really bumped into him at the door & say goodbye. I then went to wait for the bus. Surprisingly, I saw my sup rushing to take the same bus. He told me he has seen the gifts and liked them a lot. I was so glad. Chatting in the bus, we finally reached JE MRT Stn & parted. Haiz, 很多感触...

The biggest lessons learnt from this IA are :

[1] Good time management & task prioritization are crucial for successful & on-schedule completion of a project

[2] How we communicate with people is much more important than what we want to communicate

[3] Process automation knowledge, which complements process control

Hmm, not too bad, quite a fruitful experience. Finally got a taste of life in pharma industry :)

改变

Change is a natural process

Everything undergoes some form of changes

If there are no changes, life would be so boring!

Interactions with people and environment make us change

Some for the better, some for the worse

However, the crux of the matter is...

After all the flurry of efforts made for improvements,

Are people willing to "change" their expectations on us?

Would people "discard" their stereotype of us?

Most importantly, would they be "supportive" of our changes?

Or they'd rather prefer our old, problematic self?

In today's hectic life

People often want to see fast results

Overlooking the fact those results are often impermanent in nature

The human mind and behaviour is a very complex matter

Mindset changes may have occured in the conscious and sub-conscious mind

However it may not be immediately visible from the behaviour

As people need to go through a transition period

To adapt to and internalise the changes made

All these aside, there's two things for sure

It's demoralising when people do not believe that we can and will change

It's sad when changes made are not being supported

The final question is...

How the changes should be made,

such that people around us won't be hurt,

and that they are willing to accept the new us,

at the same time, our goals can be attained?

It's really a profound art

Perhaps only The Enlightened One could answer this question

Mixed Feelings

As IA mission almost 大功告成, really look forward to the holidays, but also kinda reluctant to leave Pfizer.

不知何故, 今天有很多感触. This morning began with a heavy rain, felt a bit moody. Today supposed to work 半天 coz tmr Deepavali, but went for Team Building @ Sembawang Park. Nice place with lotsa fresh air. We played laser war reality games. Like children playing hide & seek, each of us had a laser gun, with 6 lives each. We took turns to be the attacker & defender of the base (the playground), hiding behind green dustbins & trees. Recall sth similar? Bollywood film! But the funniest part was that today 我壮烈牺牲了. While playing as the defender, I stayed until the final moments, when the last 2 surviving attackers tried snatching the balloon @ our base. With 4 lives left & unknown enemies' remaining lives, I rushed out to shoot them & managed to 干掉 one of them, but my engineer (my enemy in the game) sneaked up, snatched the balloon & shot me. Oops, game over! Then while playing as the attacker, I tried to cover my team mates by distracting the enemies & allowing my team mates to advance further to the enemy's base, but was shot multiple times by the cunning snipers. Wow, what a fun game!

Then, we went for lunch @ Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant, Blk 701A, Yishun Ave 5. With the decree that we can order anything we like, we ordered 10 dishes. Hmm, you can imagine the extent of hunger at that time, haha... Seriously, I highly recommend this place. Reason? Very fast ordering-to-serving time, yummy food, reasonable price & convenient location near Yishun MRT Stn! After the games & lunch, somehow felt closer to the colleagues, esp. IT division people. It's heartening to see a group of colleagues so close together like pals.

In the evening, we went to celebrate JY's 21st birthday @ The Cafe Cartel, IMM. Haha, my 21st b'day is very long time ago le... Hope she liked our gift. Hmm, that feeling of hanging out with a group of very close friends, chatting & LOL-ing are one of the best things in life. Well, it's time to get back to work again.

8 Random Facts About Myself

Link to your tagger and post these rules. List eight (8) random facts about yourself. Tag eight people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them). Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

Thanks to JY for tagging me. Hmm, okie I'll try listing out those not commonly known.

1. I like small animals, esp. puppies & kittens. They're so cute!

2. I don't like the smell of new electrical/electronic appliances. They make me dizzy @_@

3. I like plain water & seldom consume soft drinks. Weird right?

4. I seldom eat prawns/crabs, coz "ma fan" to de-shell them. Haha, truly lazy...

5. I can day-dream a lot.

6. I'm a big eater, but never get fat enough to be visible. Maybe my body uses different metabolic pathways.

7. I don't read novels & magazines, except Natural Geographic (sometimes only thou).

8. I love to travel, but not much chances to do that.

Haha paiseh, not enough people in my list. Lenard, u kena tagged liao...

忙碌的生活

Hmm, very bz nowadays, work piling up, stuck at tough problems, forcing myself to read. Now I'm like a zombie, 天天不够睡.

[ A Debugger's Life ]

I've been testing control logic & drafting test protocol. Just to grasp how it works took 1 wk & drafting + prelim testing + finding & killing bugs took another wk. Keep repeating the sequence until 我怕. Finally settled temporarily, after passed to engineer for review. Phew!

[ Logbook & Report vs. Work ]

Sometimes I really wonder how to balance these. If I work too hard, no clear mind, no energy & no time to write logbk & report. Everyday I'd come across possible problems on the modules & modify the config. These constant changes for hundreds of items are really tedious. When I go home, eyes kinda swollen. If I focus too much on my logbk/report, practical work experience would be lost forever. If I don't read along, can't link process control with what I've been doing. Some concepts are real tough & keep trying to read also make eye swollen. What a dilemma!

[ Dinner & Dance ]

Yeah! Got a surprised call today, saying I can attend Pfizer's D&D on 3 Nov. Can't bring partner, no door-gifts & I might not be able to sit with my dept people, but it's ok. It's a great opportunity to know people from other depts. Haha, looking forward to it.

[ Shattered Dream ]

Bad news! The automation specialist is quitting in Nov, he found a new job! How to cope? Only 2 engineers + 1 contract staff left supporting entire Pfizer site? The other 2 are managers, so bulk of the jobs lie on my sup & another engineer. I asked before why our dept so few people. They said the system very advanced & usually no big problems, so only need a few people to troubleshoot. If got new & big projects, they'll hire contract staff to help out. Now I know why people keep leaving, despite the high pay. Job is rather boring/routine & work pressure is too huge, due to manpower shortage.

Now I can already imagine how it's gonna be like if I go back Pfizer after graduating: Slog it out with my sup until cannot tahan anymore. Hmm, not much 灵感 to write IA report. Hope I can get it flying off soon. God bless!

K-Lunch @ Lucky Chinatown

Haha, had a great day today! Many laughed until face cramp, because CS got his hit-song le,天下无双 La la la, hehe. May Ling (ML) also sang for the 1st time with ATP. Both sang very well :)

ATP pals, thanks a lot for the birthday wishes & gifts (a PINK polo tee & a white jacket). I tried them le & liked them very much. Though I never wear pink shirt before, but next outing I'll try to wear it, hehe...

We've got lotsa things to talk that we spent almost the entire day chatting. Haha, as usual, IA & the ever-interesting gossips on the chat-list, while having high tea & dinner at Hans Cafe. The environment was quite cosy, but the dining utensils seemed not that clean, hmm...

Okie, shall update again when I receive the photos from CS or the organisers. Haha, next outings have been planned le. 期待那一天的到来 :)

Departure

Earlier just went with my bro & ex-room mate to the funeral of ex-landlady's mother-in-law. So shocked when I got the news this afternoon. Felt very sad during the bus-journey back home, as I recalled back her acts of kindness. I just visited her few months ago & she's still looked as healthy as usual, just that her movements a bit slower. Things come so suddenly. Haiz...

The ex-landlady, landlord & her mother-in-law treated me like their own family members. She's a refined lady, soft-spoken, cheerful, dotes on children & always put others needs before hers. Often, she'll gave us fruits/snacks or asked us to join them for dinner. Sometimes they even noticed we feel tired of outside food & cooked porridge with some dishes for us. I was so touched. I don't think I'd ever get such a kind-hearted landlady elsewhere, which is why I stayed there for 4 years, the longest ever in my room-rental history.

This reminds me that we should cherish those around us, our family, friends & loved ones and never wait until they left us. I'll always remember her kindness. May she finds her place in the Heaven...

怀旧的下午

Today went to K-lunch @ Marina Square with CS, CK & another new friend, Zhong Kang (ZK). We sang quite a few nostalgic songs by Hong Kong singers. Hmm, while immersing in that atmosphere, me had a crispy fish set-lunch, kinda like Jap food. Dunno sth wrong with the food or what, some felt a bit stomachache after having chicken set-lunch. Grrr...

Next stop, MOF. Do MOE, MOM or MOS ring a bell? Suggested by CK, we tried the Jap ice-cream there for desert. Ooh, I love ice-cream! Me ordered a "supposingly" peach-flavoured one. Hmm, saw the peach but couldn't really "smell & taste" the peachness in it, haha. Then saw a similar but enlarged & tall version passing by. Curiously, ZK asked the waitress its price & it's really more "hua suan", haha... Overall, quite a nice place for chit-chat.

Next we jalan jalan for a while outside Marina Square, sun-bathing... Yesh de, it was a hot afternoon, yet we decided to absorb some vitamin D after lunch. What a healthy life style...

Yeah, next week got another outing, K-lunch with ATP profs... Looking forward to it :)

Dance & Film - Creative Forms of Expression

Yeah, finally squeezed out some time to watch movies with AL yesterday, though it has been screened for quite some time liao. I liked the movie, the graphics were good, just like The Incredibles. Food is one of the best things in life & I agree with Chef Gusteau's belief that "Anyone Can Cook". Haha, but I'm a bad cook. My only niche area is instant noodles. Come, come, instant noodles, anyone?

"Not everyone can be a great cook,

but a great cook can come from anywhere."

The movie is funny & captured well the essence of Paris, the artistic capital with a unique appreciation of the meaning of food and wine. The night scenery in Paris as animated in the movie was so enchanting... How I wish I could visit Paris one day to experience that artistically-rich atmosphere!

After movie, went to NUS University Cultural Centre to watch Dance Reflections 2007 : The Next Wave 2007 - Fifteen, by The NUS Dance Ensemble. Hip-hop & Asian dances, e.g. Indian dances & even contemporary dance with Balinese influence were presented. They've put up a professional performance & some are really unique in a sense that they used a very different way of expressing a theme. I must admit that it was a rather chim art for me, especially trying to interpret the meaning of the dance moves, while immersing in music, expressions & orchestrated movements. But it's a fun, refreshing and enriching experience as I learn to appreciate art, taking a short break away from engineering and science.

失望

So many things going on this week. My ex-supervisor left on Tuesday. The day before, I gave her a box of Ferrero Rocher & she smiled happily. So glad. The next day, before leaving, she said "好好读书啊..." & gave me 3 golf balls with DeltaV logo printed on them. What a special gift... Though I don't play golf, they make good souveniers.

Past few days, has been busy with some urgent personal stuff & preparing for Susanna's visit. As always, tired & insufficient sleep. Finally she came today. Everything went smoothly initially, until I showed her the stuff that I've been doing for past 2 months. She saw an overview graphics for my project & asked me to explain the process & also the reactor size, then I stoned for a moment. My brain temporarily disconnected from my mouth & the tongue got entangled. I read about the process 3 weeks ago, so could only vaguely remember. I focused too much on automation part & neglected the process. How can an automation person trying to control a process which he does not know well enough? 真的是捶心肝啊!

Although my supervisor didn't say anything bad & Susanna seemed to be ok with what I told & showed her, but I'm really disappointed with my performance, in terms of my way of presenting information to her. It was so unclear, unconfident & obvious that I didn't prepare well at all. Tiredness also made simple smiles difficult.

Haiz, over the next 10 weeks, must really brush up on process aspects. Afterall, a chemical engineer is still most interested in how the process works. Really must 加油 ler!

温暖的感觉

这个星期, 工作让我有不一样的体验. I don't know why, even though I've been there for only a while, but I feel a strong sense of belonging. People there really treat me well, despite I frequently appear to be quiet & tired.

My department people are like a small, close-knit family to me. They'll come to "jio" me for lunch everyday. I especially respect the manager - no air of a manager at all. He often sits in front of me during lunch & starts asking me things, although he's a rather quiet guy. When I bump into him, he'll always greet me with a nod & smile. Then the ang moh automation team leader is also very friendly & always smiling. After a meeting with him yesterday, he came over to ask me if I could cope with the tasks. He also doesn't give me 高高在上的感觉 at all.

Hmm, just knew today my initial mentor will be my new supervisor. A very friendly guy, cheerful & always patient with me. Maybe he's only a few years older than me, 所以比较谈得来. Then another mentor is a soft-spoken guy, very fatherly & patient with me. He has a best friend from mechanical department, always like to joke around & make fun of me, haha...

What I feel very different about the environment here is they really care about your personal development, don't feel irritated when I ask them a lot of questions & would often explain to me at length. Even if they are busy, they'll tell me nicely & not "bin chao chao". The fatherly mentor frequently gave me advice on what things to learn more during my stay there, so that after I graduate I will have a better chance of joining in. The engineer is like a brother to me. Yesterday he "ajak" me to join the weekly meeting & ask me to help him do test protocol, so I can learn things other than just drawing graphics. Then today the manager asked me to join another weekly meeting, to learn how to design control strategies for the new project that I'm involved in now.

Today after the loop check, I realised there are still so many things about what I've been doing for the past 2 months that I don't understand at all. I concentrated mainly on mechanical aspects of the work, wanna complete the work faster since so many tags to work on & tried not to make any mistakes. Hmm, from now onwards, I must delve deeper & ask more thinking questions, so that 我不会辜负他们.

I finally found my dream company, in which I found a sense of mission, with people really caring about you as a person & giving you challenging tasks to do. Yeah!

领悟

After a busy period, finally found time to write sth. Hmm, last posts were filled with much heavy feelings. Looking back, I was so foolish to harbour such thoughts.

2 weeks back, I went to support Liming's Dancetitude Concert @ NTU ADM. Nice, exciting & a very difference experience! Finally saw our hip-hop king in action, haha... SOUL of 绝对 Superband were also invited to perform there. But at the end of the show, when they said Ishi has passed on, I was shocked. Haiz...

Then to all my friends who sms-ed me on my birthday, 我想说...

All these years, this is one which I received the most birthday sms. So 感动...

[ An Unexpected Encounter ]

That morning, I was having breakfast alone in the company canteen. A colleague from other department (whom I don't know) asked if he could share the table with me. Only a few people around & plenty of space. We chatted for quite sometime. He said one thing that's quite true...

"Remember, don't do all the tasks your boss asked you to, including what he/she repeatedly says important. Do only what you think is important. In short, prioritise."

[ A Lesson from The Enlightened ]

That night I received a Buddhist email newsletter, "The Daily Enlightenment". It links to a Buddhist website which provides daily advice. It says

"Nothing, whatsoever, should be clung to.

Let go, let go of letting go."

It mentions 2 forms of clinging, i.e. one that leads to more clinging, resulting of swirling in the rounds of Samsara in a vicious cycle or clinging that leads to the freedom of non-clinging - like hanging on to a lifesaver. And another article also said

"It is not that others make you unhappy, but your thoughts about what they say and do (or not) that makes you so. If you wish others to treat you well, you have to first treat yourself well. This would include not imagining others can ever "make" you unhappy. This also means that others cannot give you happiness – you have to decide to be happy. Happiness depends on how you condition your mind internally; not external conditions."

I reflected for moment. It's so true! This is the root of the problems. 我真的想太多了. Hmm, I shall try to be more optimistic & not to put too high expectations on anything. It's really about achieving balance. Hope I can really do it one day...

Voices From The Heart

For the past few weeks, I've been thinking about the past, present & future. IA life has never been easy. Although workload has been increasing recently, the journey to work & back home have been filled with feelings of solitude. During the short moments in the bus & train, I couldn't help feeling lost amidst the crowd.

I've been wondering if it's time to let go of those things & focus on what really matters in life. Being away from home for so long & facing so many obstacles have made me become more independent, but also made me feel numb on certain things, especially relationships. Probably I shouldn't say this. It's only natural that people don't feel the same way for you as what you feel about them.

I used to think that there exists one person in this world who truly understands me. But I doubt there'll ever be one. I've no idea what's stopping me to let others know more about myself. I'm afraid to allow myself to be too engrossed into building up relationships, as I worry I will let them down. I don't wish my friends to feel that kind of sadness, vexing heavy burden. Maybe that's also why it's hard for me to feel truly happy, let alone for others to see happiness written on my face.

I used to believe that people can shape their own destinies. It only depends on our determination. Recently I realised I'm wrong. There are things that you can't change, no matter how hard you try. Even though I don't wish to resign to fate, but now I've no choice. However, I'll continue trying, trying & trying.... till I'm too tired to try anymore. Maybe these are my fate, my life, my karma...

Reality of Life

Childhood days are often said to be happiest moments in one's life.
Play without worries,
Laugh out loudly when you feel happy,
Cry out your hearts when you feel sad,
Exempted from most obligations & responsibilities.

But, as it's always true, happy moments don't last forever.
The universe is ever evolving,
People's perceptions are constantly changing,
Emotions are also no exception to this law of nature.

Teenage days have seen particularly dramatic changes.
When one of the two things in life he values the most is shattered.
So sudden,
So forceful,
So heartbreaking,
That he couldn't believe it actually happened to him.

But what can he do?
When nothing he said would help,
When nothing he did would change the situation,
He can only watch helplessly by the side.

Life has been getting tougher in recent years.
Old problems still persist,
New problems become more daunting,
Responsibilities become heavier,
People are not what they used to be anymore.

No matter how much time he spent thinking on the solutions,
No matter how much energy he put in to salvage it,
The situation didn't change much.

When his closest kins choose to ignore the problems,
By immersing in their own worlds,
By avoiding their responsibilities,
By making others worry unnecessarily,
Someone else need to shoulder all these.

It's getting really tired
Physically
Mentally
To the extent that he's often misunderstood,
by virtue of how he appear to others.
But he really doesn't wish to end up this way.

He just wants to let his dear friends know that,
He realises his demerits & trying to change for the better.
However, in the process of adjusting & tackling external problems,
people may not be able to accept the changes he made,
or may be uncomfortable with the other side of him,
or may even further misunderstand his intentions.
But he'll try to be strong to face these challenges.

He has a few small wishes that,
His friends understand what he's going through now.
His friends wouldn't feel awkward in his presence.
He wouldn't be a burden to his friends.
He can be a friend whom others can share joys & tears with.
He can be a friend whom others can comfortably confide in.

Who Knows Me Best?

Got this from JY's blog. If you got some time to spare, feel free to try it...

http://www.truefriendtest.com/friendtest/856235


Create your own Friend Test here

My Character vs. Academic Major

Haha, thanks to JY. Hmm, quite accurate le..

You scored as Biology/Chemistry/Geology, You should strongly consider majoring (or minoring) in Biology, Chemistry, Geology, or related majors (e.g., Biochemistry, Environmental Science, Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife, Genetics, Marine Biology, Zoology). It is possible that the best major for you is your 2nd, 3rd, or even 5th listed category, so be sure to consider ALL majors in your OTHER high scoring categories (below). You may score high in a category you didnt think you would--it is possible that a great major for you is something you once dismissed as not for you. The right major for you will be something 1) you love and enjoy and 2) are really great at it. Consider adding a minor or double majoring to make yourself standout and to combine your interests. Please post your results in your myspace/blog/journal. Biology/Chemistry/Geology 100% Physics/Engineering/Computer 94% Mathematics/Statistics 75% Psychology/Sociology 69% Education/Counseling 69% History/Anthropology/LiberalArts 69% French/Spanish/OtherLanguage 69% Religion/Theology 63% Nursing/AthleticTraining/Health 56% Accounting/Finance/Marketing 50% HR/BusinessManagement 44% PoliticalScience/Philosophy 38% English/Journalism/Comm 31% Visual&PerformingArts 31% WHAT MAJOR IS RIGHT FOR YOU? created with QuizFarm.com

Chemical Engineer vs. Automation Engineer

A very busy week. Frequent yawns, headaches, insomnia, eye-aches, neck-aches have been my constant companions since IA started. Did I strain myself too hard or was it purely lack of interest? I finally found the answer yesterday. Okie, it's like this. There are 2 completely different worlds just across 2 opposite desks.

My Desk

A computer nerd stares at the screen everyday, busy compiling & allocating I/O tags for field devices. No other visible activities, no obvious deadlines. Almost 800 device signal tags in 2 days! Feel brain really hot. So hot that yawning becomes much more frequent this week...

Opposite Desk

An angmoh stones here. Designing new plant equipments for the upcoming plant expansion, he calls up his colleagues in US to discuss ChE problems related to equipment design, almost everyday. Initially I was like "ic ic".. But later on, as I was listening him discussing more & more, it becomes 好羡慕啊! Initial IA plan is to learn some useful process control stuff. In the end realised I still cannot resist the great lure of "core chemical engineering". Maybe used to do hands-on chem. eng. stuff & now those are beyond reach...

I think I'd rather be a process engineer, focusing on core chemical engineering problems, like doing mass balances, tinkering with valves, distillation columns, reactors, troubleshoot process problems, etc.. Really miss the life as a production technician while in SOXAL, despite sometimes worked in rains & frequently under scorching sun, heavy workload, not-really-safe working environment, frequent OTs. Sounds mad? But it's one of few things from which I derive great fulfilment.

Haiz, life is like that. Most of the time, we gotta do things that we don't really like. But, if I didn't go through all these, I wouldn't realise what I truly like. It's human nature...

A Week of Surprises

# IA Surprises #

Yesterday, my supervisor came to my help on her own! Maybe she saw me "pek chek" looking at the screen, trying to remove warning messages, which I'd been struggling for the entire afternoon. So 感动! She also got me another larger project. Maybe to help me kill time, haha.. Similar to current one, but start from scratch. 有的我忙了! Too bad, she's resigning soon in Sep T_T. Another 2 contractor colleagues contracts also ending in Sep. What to say? Just hope things won't get messier @_@

Lately, I kinda have "He Bo" symptoms. While ordering lunch, I mistaken "rendang mutton" for "rendang chicken" & took a bowl of soup, which I also mistaken "ginger soup" as "chicken soup". Maybe staring too much at screen until blur. But in rainy day, it kept me warm. So sinful*, I ate mutton twice in a week! *Colleagues sometimes say these when eating unhealthy food.

Oh yah, I got Prof Diamond Ring as my IA Tutor. Hope I can meet her expectations. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the IA Tutor List yesterday. A lot of "gum" combinations, especially THAT ONE :)

* An Unusual Dinner *

Tue after work, I had dinner with CS, JY & CK (Chee Keong) at a 小印度餐馆. Mutton, Naan & miscellaneous spicy food made me miss Indo food. The food was nice & price ok, thou feel the portions a bit less, haha... With CS & CK, the next stop The Cafe Cartel @ PS. Initial plan was to "have a drink", but later became to "have a cake". I ordered a Jamaica Banana Rum Cheese Cake. Nice neh! Somemore, CK treated us. Haha, how nice of him. It's a fun & refreshing evening, catching up with friends after a very tiring working day.

~ A Once-In-A-Blue-Moon Thing ~

I don't know what wrong with me today. Not long after dinner, suddenly have a "very loud & weird-sounding hiccup". Luckily, only me was at home, haha... Till now still there. Tried all sorts of remedies, but all failed. Haven't had this thing for quite a few years le...

How I wish the logbook is as easy to write as this blog. Oops, it's coming again... "Hic... Hic... Hic..." Arrgghh!

Ups and Downs of Life

It's the weekend again. Sooo tired...

Talking about work, some sad things happened. My supervisor hasn't been around most of the time, similar to last week. But this week, she finally joined me & another 2 colleagues for lunch, for the 1st time! Hmm, she kept talking about work with the rest & didn't talk much to me. From the time she sat down, I didn't have a chance to interrupt their conversation, as she spoke a lot & rather fast. As I finished my lunch 1st, I waited for them & also rested for a while. When I finally had a chance, she said "If you want to leave, you can leave first. No need to wait here", in a rather cold tone. I was stunned! I don't think that I was over-sensitive or what. I really "SENSED" that she really has bad impression on me. Althou my communication skills really sucks, but my 6th sense for this purpose is quite accurate. Since IA started, she talked to me only a few times. I tried to approach her to ask her questions, if not, even lesser conversation. Usually, she can joke & laugh out loudly with others, but not with me. I was wondering it may have been my sulky/tired face that cause all these problems. But others treated me well, laughing & joking, much better than I expected it to be. Maybe she dislikes my personality or maybe she doesn't like the way I work or maybe just 八字不和. I really don't know...

How am I going to work under her for another 20 weeks? It's so sad. I wonder why she accepted me. I'd rather she scold me for doing sth not to her liking or just reject me during interview. Now I can only try my best to smile more & more (thou I feel tired most of the time, dun ask me why, coz I also dunno) & find more opportunities to talk to her, esp. non-work related matters. I really cherished the opportunity to work here & I want to make it a memorable experience, but not in a sad atmosphere. Haiz, I'd better stop here, if not it gets more & more emo.

Talking about happie things, today the manager drove us to nearby Pioneer Food Village & treated us lunch. The food was very nice & fresh, thou rather expensive, similar to restaurant price. But, I seriously recommend it to those who work around Tuas Biomedical Park area, it's worth it! Ooh, glutton me =) This week has been slightly more productive. I've started on my mini-project liao. It's so interesting. There's so many things I don't know, plenty of things to learn :) Okie, I just hope that overall, things will turn out better. Of course I won't unreasonably expect everyone in this world to treat me well, but at least let me know what really happened or what aren't ok.

God bless!

First Week of IA

Hmm, how I feel about this IA? Too excited, to the extent that I couldn't sleep well for 2 days!

Okie, Day 1 started out with me racing against time to catch company bus @ Jurong East MRT Station. Luckily, I managed to "petrify" it at the last minute. Phew! Similarly for the rest of the week. Too sleepy I guess...

Erm, 1st day got bullet-train briefings from HR, GMP & EHS. Walk walk see see & get-to- know-people session. My mentors are friendly & nice chaps, haha... Then also got a ThinkPad for my personal use & had my prescription safety goggles made. Oh my God! Thank you so much, Pfizer!

Most of the time I was reading manuals until seeing **(O_o)**. Most people are sooo busy, I didn't dare to disturb them too much. 真可怜, 一只苍蝇也没有! Tell me, how to kill time??? I WILL YAWN after staring at my manuals & screen after some time... Arghh~~

But yesterday, I attended a meeting with my supervisor, sth on 1 of my projects. Yeah! I finally got sth to do le. It's sooo informal... Every now & then, everybody would just joke & laugh out loudly. Such a 轻松的 meeting. But learned quite a bit of "Office Politics in Pharmaceutical Industry" & a crash course on "How to Survive in Pharmaceutical Industry", haha... After that, she briefed me on my IA programme scope. Yeah, finally!

IA PROGRAMME SCOPE

* * PROJECT 1 * *

Assist in the computerisation of hose-management system by compiling user requirements specs (URS), validation (validation plan, validation test protocol, IQ/OQ/PQ), commissioning & qualification (C&Q), final testing & launching the system

* * PROJECT 2 * *

I/O ports allocation, control-interface graphics & code development (i.e. control modules, equipment modules, interlocks), testing control system & writing test reports, loop checks & handover to production.

I like the 2nd project! It sounds sooooooo interesting!!! Hmm, today started a bit on Project 2 & read a thick GAMP Guide. Grr~~

Amidst all the boredom & excitement, somehow I felt lonely & lost, even thou everyday sooo many people accompany me to work & off work. Maybe I was the only IA student there. Hmm, then I also felt I somehow missed a few opportunities at work. Haiz, 我又胡思乱想了...

Okie, I'd better stop here. If not, it'll never end. 希望明天会更忙, so that I can FEEL myself more productive & efficient.

Nippon-philic Syndrome

Today I went support CS in The Japanese Speech Contest 2007 @ The Japanese Association of S'pore. The environment there was relaxing & people were very polite. Haha, when I reached there, just on time for the free buffet lunch! The food was nice, esp. the curry :)

The auditorium is not very big, Jap style, very comfortable. I only watched the Tertiary & Open categories. When the 1st finalist came up the stage & I was feeling "Oooh.. she looked like a Jap". Then when she started speaking, I was jaw-dropped. Sooo fluent & sooo Jap lor! Althou I didn't understand practically all of the speech.

Then after witnessing the rest, I realized it was so fun & cool speaking Jap. Haiz, I should have learnt it during poly time. Then now at least I'd be able to converse in simple everyday Jap. Now I can only try to appreciate it through self-interpretation of Ayumi's songs...

The Washi Paper

Interestingly, there was an Origami Session, explaining to us the origin of origami & a few origami artworks. Everyone was given 2 sheets of Japanese origami paper, known as Washi paper & an instruction sheet. The paper quality is very good ne.. We're shown how to fold an origami balloon. The origami teacher also showed us "Origami Fire-Spitting Dragon & Dinosaurs" & that took him 1 day to fold! But it looked so nice...

One of the most exciting part was the prize-giving ceremony. Weirdly, only 1st - 4th prize existed, while 5th & 6th ranked finalists received vouchers & a certificate.

4th prize >> Vacuum Cleaner [ sooo bulky! ]

3rd prize >> Portable DVD Player [ I want this...]

2nd prize >> A 20" LCD TV [ I want this too... ]

1st prize >> DVD Camcorder [ This is what I wanted most, haha! ]

But it's good to see at least CS got into the finals. He did quite well le, at least didn't forget his speech. Next year try again, we'll go to support you, haha..

Ganbatte!