Same Old Series of Unfortunate Events Part I

I think I need a walk round the wheel of luck...

I need a change of luck...

If ANYONE complains that they've been unlucky OR unhappy in their jobs and job-hopped a million times... pls see my situation before u complain next time...

Have been in the workforce for about 2 years plus already.... but in the 2 jobs that I've held so far, I have had the WORST luck anyone can imagine...

cos it's two times in a row... its like the book by Lemoney Snickets... "A Series Of Unfortunate Events"...

my very unfortunate incidents as follows...

My very first was at this small production house located at this a very old and dilapidated office in an industrial building… the very first time I went for the interview, there was this very auntie looking woman who greeted me. (Auntie looking meaning that she looked like she was the office cleaner and coffee lady as she had a rag in her hand when I walked in.) The entire office had 1 PC outside, and 1 Mac outside, and 3 Macs inside this cordoned off area where the AVID editing machines and Final Cut Pro were placed. Further inside, there were 2 rooms at the back of the office, and one of them looked like an office. The auntie told me to wait outside first, cos the person who called me wasn’t around. So I sat down at this plastic desk and chair near the door, there wasn’t exactly a reception area at all. Then the auntie asked me to go into the office to wait. When I waited inside, the lady who called me came back, and she said that she’ll start the interview when the producer is in the room… then guess wat… the AUNTIE came in… I was like… “Oh my gosh, luckily I didn’t call her auntie…” the interview went alright, and she said that she’s actually looking for an editor, not a producer… so I said I can try first I don’t mind, as I’ll just take it as a learning experience… then the interview ended… I left…

A few days later she called and asked if I wanna try being editor… and then she immediately asked me to go that evening and try out some editing with the AVID machine…. Ok fine…. But then she left me there and went to eat dinner!!! Then I actually finished in like 20 mins and I couldn’t find her or the lady that called me… and there was like only 1 guy in the entire office… and seeing that she wasn’t coming back I went to ask the guy where she went… that’s when I knew she went to eat!!! OMG how can any employer do that when you are doing an interview???!!!! After like almost an hour she finally came back… and we discussed terms… and the pay was like peanuts… $1300-1400 ok… I said I’ll consider about it… even though inside my mind I’ve already rejected it cos of the low pay… then another week later she called me again… and I mentioned that I find the pay too low, and I’m more interested in producing than in editing… then another week later she called and asked if I’m interested in a producer job, with starting pay at $1500… since I haven’t been getting any job offers, I thought I’ll just take it and see how…

My very first day was very scary for me… as she didn’t do a great job at introducing me to the staff and there wasn’t really a desk for me so I had to work at the pantry table…. Yes the very first day she gave me a project and asked me to try and conceptualise and write the script for a beverage…

Weeks went by and little by little she started to show her true colours… at first she was very nice… and since I worked with some of her previous media colleagues and contacts before, she likes to gossip about them to me… no doubt trying to make friends… but then as months went by, I noticed that she has some rather bad habits or characteristics:

1. she’s hopeless in managing people or the company…

2. no doubt the company is small, but she has really badly stored and kept equipment, etc that never seem to be serviced or checked for faults… a terrible mistake for a production company that relies so much on your equipment…

3. she likes to PR so much with the clients that sometimes it makes me wanna puke… imagine an auntie trying to flirt with you… that’s the scenario…

4. she has really extreme mood swings that make the entire company’s staff pissed with her when she screams pretty much like a mad dog, and worst still… FOLLOWS u around when she’s “barking” and doesn’t stop even if you walk away!!! Then the next moment she can be asking you if you want lunch and buys everyone in the office lunch… our verdict is that she’s menopausal…

5. she has very terrible hygiene… she doesn’t shave her armpits… she had BO… she has smelly feet… and wat’s worst is that she likes to wear sleeveless, or butterfly sleeves tops that show her plump arms… and the unshaven black forest and smelly armpits… she also likes to walk about bare footed in the office… her room stinks when she removes her shoes…. Once it was so bad it stank as if there was a dead fish or animal in the office… I almost puked when I went in to have meetings with her… even she also smelled it, and tried to blame it on the AC…

6. she likes to take jobs that have so short a turnaround period that it’s almost impossible to finish for us unless we work OT ( OT is not paid here… only can claim transport)… mainly duplication jobs that once made me work on a Sunday from 5am in the morning cos her unserviced Mac was cranky and didn’t wanna output the video onto VCD…

7. ultra cheapo commercials that make you ashamed when you see them on TV…
she doesn’t like people to rebut or speak back to her, or even have an opinion… she likes gentle lambs that will do her EVERY bidding… DEFINITELY NOT ME… so that’s why I’m her eye sore…

8. she likes to try to use food to bribe the staff… but to no avail… she once treated the ENTIRE company’s staff out for steamboat at one of her client’s restaurant… of cos we went… but we just ate and ate and ate… just gave one word answers to her questions to PR with her…. We ALL went shopping after the meal but told her that we were leaving for home…

9. her make-up skills are an eye sore… she puts only foundation, and cos her face is oily… it gathers around her nose, and some parts of the face, and looks patchy…

10. manicures are a waste of money & time for her… since she doesn’t even do proper grooming… nails are just not enough… the rest are much more important…


to be continued….

Pics from JB trip!!!

Here's the LONG-AWAITED pics of TTT with her humongous 3 houses... after our JB trip...


TTT with her 3 houses


Butterstreets, TTT & Alwaysane after our JB shopping trip...

peace out,
same old same old

It's a cruel cruel world out there...

Today, the world is less of another potential superstar...

Derrick is out of the competition...

It's a cruel contest of talents...

It's a cruel game of elimination...

It's a cruel duel of accusations...

A week ago when Jason was eliminated from the contest, many Weicong and Derrick fans were cheering... Cos they believed that "he who has deprived others of their chances has finally got his just deserts"...

*Pls refer to this article named "The End Of The Jason Curse" if you're unclear of what's happening...

However... His interview spun another round of chaos amongst the remaining contestants' fans... Due to his debatable comments as follows:

You mentioned just now that you believe in several criteria to a SuperStar: singing, packaging, stage presence and the feel you give people. How do you think the remaining three semi-finalists rank in these criteria?

Jason: Wei Lian is in a different context because of his handicap, so he will lose out a lot on stage presence. But then again, because of that, he can just stand there and people will feel for him. As a SuperStar, you need to reach out and touch the people. His voice already touches his audience. If I’m a judge, I’ll not bother so much about his stage presence; I’ll just want to see how he improves, how he performs and how he has the confidence and courage to move on the next round. As a visually handicapped person, it’s not easy to be in a national competition and have everybody’s eyes on you. You can’t see them but you have so many eyes looking at you.

So I’ll rank Junyang, Wei Lian and Derrick. I’ll add another criterion: at the end of the day, to be a SuperStar, you must be humble. It’s not good to have airs.

Do you mean a semi-finalist has airs now?

Jason: Maybe he has forgotten that this is just a competition. Don’t be so competitive because if you get a contract after the competition and you aren’t humble and have a celebrity air about you, you lose your own character. You might win something but when you are arrogant, people will just shun you.

After much egging on and prompting, Jason finally told us some concrete examples of how this semi-finalist has changed.)

You just know that the person is different. He talks differently. He’ll treat fans in a certain way because he knows they are important but he’ll treat other people differently.

A sense of self-importance?

Jason: Ah yes… you get the feeling of ‘Wahhh, I’m enjoying limelight. Wherever I go, people like me…’ from him.

We get the impression this person is one of the three semi-finalists, and according to your ranking, it’s pretty obvious who he is.

Jason: You all can go ahead and guess, hehe. Maybe you can feel it, because it’s quite obvious; anybody can feel it. Even his fans also get the same impression. They came up to me last night and asked me to tell him to be humble no matter happens. They told me, ‘He seems to have changed, so much so that I don’t even recognize him anymore. I don’t know why…’

So what exactly possessed him to say something so irresponsible... Only he knows...

After reading forums n messageboards full of fans bombarding each other and each others' faves... I've come to a decision that it could have totally been a ploy to make Junyang and Derrick's fans detest one another...

Derrick's heart-wrenching thank-you speech that made me start bawling my eyes out like there's no tomorrow... And hearing Weilian's insensitive remark to Derrick was such a low-point... I think he really shouldn't have said it...

This is what he said in brief to Derrick:
"Derrick, pls tell ur fans not to blame me, or to be angry with me and boycott me cos I drove you out of e competition... cos it's not that I want it... but competition is cruel..."

if he had just said "Carry on the good work Derrick! Your hard work will not be in vain! Success will definitely be yours one day!" it would have left a much better impression of him on people... now i feel that by saying wat he said he has become e bad guy... it's like macam luo jin xia shi...even TTT oso commented that he's not good in PR... i think he could make others dislike him for what he said... even if he did want to protect Jason, or WHATEVER...he shouldn't have said those words... it's insensitive to someone who has just lost his chance at making it big, and i feel as if that he was making things worse for him... No doubt... in the end Derrick burst into tears when saying his speech and singing his last song "Hen Xiang Ni" (my fave) to the fans... n bowing for a long time at the end of the song, and giving a flying kiss to all his fans... in turn the fans bawled their eyes out... it looked like a sincere gesture of mutual appreciation of the latters' support and the former's recognition of their undying and steadfast support...

so... my question remains...

if he's so sincere... n thankful... y would Jason say that he's changed n become an arrogant peacock???

peace out
Same Old Fanatic

Glorious Oh Glorious Vacation!!!!

Glorious Oh Glorious Vacation!!!!

Alas...

The much anticipated getaway trip is here...

& over... -[

well more about the trip can be read on Butterwalks' graphic accounts from meet up to customs... to getting across to the other side n our first day's adventures & misadventures... to a competitive analysis, complete with scores, of the hotel...

basically u'll notice that most of it involved A LOT of nicks for each travelling companion... particularly one we've inadeptly crowned as Attas Lian-cum-TTT-aka-Travelling Turtle Tan... yeah i'm e "highly paid & highly respected tour guide"... Alwaysane is e mischievous child...

basically we had a good, fun, 2.5 day trip... loads of eating, laughing, high-pitch squeals & eating on e first day with surprise cheap finds for e 3 "newbies in e house"... with a cheap earning movie "The Island" at RM6 each at Mega Pavillion... then sumptous lunch at Season's Cafe... then we went shopping to kill time till it's time to go to check in at our hotel... spent some time there straightening out the fact that we were kinda conned of our free breakfast that was supposed to come together with the room... we lost unfortunately... after spending an hour there nua-ing (in Butterstreets' words)... we finally managed to get ourselves over back to City Square... another round of shopping... then it's onto the much anticipated KTV!!! we'd decided on e much nearer n more convenient option of the KTV on Level 5 of City Square... cos e one at Plaza Pelangi was too far from e hotel...

the next 6 hours were absolutely wondrous... well at least for me cos we got to sing so many songs... n eat as much we want until we were all stuffed beyond limit... ok e buffet was not really anything to brag abt... but at leastit was decent enuf for human consumption...

then e most unexpected thing happened...

i felt something pricky go across my elbow when i was trying to push myself up from sliding down the sofa...

then i sat up and took a look at my albow... nothing wrong... ok we decided to see what it was... then Butterstreets swiped it off e sofa... then i looked at my elbow again... this time it was bleeding buckets... well... it was literally dripping red... TTT hurriedly dug for tissue to curb my bleeding elbow... then all 4 of us started scouring e floor in semi- darkness for a glimpse of what e foreign pricky object was... until Alwaysane... sane in e worst of times as usual... went to switch on e lights n we continued scouring till we found that it was actually a piece of glass... wonder where that came from.... with bleeding elbow in tow... i was brought to e restroom to have my wound cleaned n bandaged by TTT... that night when i took it out it was totally darkened with my blood... e cut must have been quite deep it seems... i dunno how we still managed to sing until our hearts content before leaving at 12MN...

2nd day was an early start... went to jacuzzi n pool with sleepy Butterwalks in tow... then another incident happened... we witness smoke coming out from e building next door... then there were fire trucks n everyone was gathered downstairs at the open air carpark... in e end it turned out to be a fire drill... wat a sight in e morning... especially when u r trying to suntan... then e smoke incited the skies to start drizzling after 30mins... so much for suntanning... we decided to go back to breakfast... n to our amazement... another boo hoo happened... they forgot to bring up one more set that we ordered... n in the end we got extra bacon from e manager himself... to be truthful... e portions were too small to satisfy our hunger... so we ordered another set... it was an all egg breakfast...

later we took a cab to Plaza Pelangi, as e drizzle turned into a small rain storm... RM5... think the cab driver went a long way... but it was going by meter... so well... in e end e small n unexciting Plaza Pelangi turned out to be the spot where everyone spent n bought e most things from... then its off to Round 2 of eating at Secret Recipe... e prices r e same as SG... meaning a slice of cake is S$4.90... n it's RM4.90... with an exchange rate standing currently at RM2.25= S$1, u do e math...we ended our spree n took a cab back to City Square... n another incident happened... cab drivers refuse to take us cos we wanted to go by meter... then after 3 cabs we decided on this lady driver... n she was actually lecturing us that it's not possible for them to go by meter these days n earn any money... blah blah blah... then abt us being so particular abt a few dollars when our currency is so much stronger... blah blah blah... it's really a case of principles really... we went from hotel to there in less than RM5, we should pay around that price if not less... not more... right???

then it's another round of shopping for all of us... shop shop shop shop shop... till we were all pretty out of money then we became all uptight when we spent... kept checking how much money we had left... ha ha... pretty funny sight... we ate at a place when we could use our cards... so we ate at Sushi King... weird place cos e locals... meaning Malay-Malaysians... spoke in Jap to welcome us... ha ha... so weird... i'd already found it weird when locals (Singaporeans) do it... much less Malays... cos they dun look Jap at all... after dinner we visited e local supermarket to gather some food for our next day's breakfast n some snacks to last us during e show later that night...then we went back to hotel... cos we dun have much money left... then we watched Project Superstar in TTT & my hotel room... with everything moved to one room... then our TV started to jump at our every shriek... then during e very first commercial break... we grabbed ALL our stuff n barang barang n made a dash over to Alwaysane n Butterwalks' room... where we spent e rest of e hour snacking n laughing n screaming our heads off for Derrick, Jason, Weilian & Junyang... then TTT & I went back to our hotel to rest... i caught Manhunt later when TTT was asleep...

3rd day was an ULTRA LAZY DAY... everyone wanted to nua in e hotel bed till we checked out... well 3 against 1... not much choice for me, e hyperactive...then we went to City Square to buy movie tickets for "Fantastic Four" at RM10, cos it was st 3pm...then we went for McDonald's to fill our stomaches... but our tickets took most of our newly exhcnaged money... so it's simple fare for us again... Happy Meals for all... with cutesy toy too... whereas in SG they won't give u e toy if an adult/ non-child is buying it... wat a diff... then some more window-shopping n walking ard with no money... then we (Butterwalks n me) chanced upon a shop selling similar cloggies to TTT's previous purchase... n going on sale some more...

NOTE:this shop wasn't ard last time... so can't blame me for not informing her earlier...

well loads of nice things to buy... but... no cash... in e end we hurried back n asked TTT & Alwaysane to come check out for themselves... while me & Butterwalks take care of e bags in McDonalds... in e end they went for 45mins... thinking they were lost or sth... cos out movie was at 3pm... n they weren't back at 2.30pm... e best thing is tt Alwaysane didn't bring along her HP... brillant...

in e end TTT bought something we all gasped at e sight of it... she bought a water bottle n a rattan box!!! mind u... she was already carrying a fully stuffed backpack n a slingbag... thus e nick for her 3 houses... we have photos as proof...

then its off to e movie... Human Torch is such a cutie... think Chris Evans did a great job portraying my fave character of e Fantastic Four... i've watched this cartoon since young... n i think they've done a good job portraying e characters...

after e movie it was all toilet break for ALL of us... u have to pay no matter where u r in Malaysia to go toilet... n depending on e cleanliness n e design of e loo... u might have to pay from RM0.20 to RM 0.50 in e same mall... yes... it's true...

after a much needed toilet break... we went to make our last purchases... n went to buy e highly recommended BIG BAO... n sure enuf... it defeated Butterwalks n Alwaysane whom were very hungry when they wanted one each... then it's off to the customs... a short walk to the bus terminal n a short ride over to SG customs...

then another incident had to occur just before we get back to SG....

2 obasans cut Butterwalks n my queue!!!

yes... such rude n kiasu ppl still exist... even if u r in e wronf queue... if u had asked i'm sure we'll be glad to let u into e queue... but cutting n then PRETENDING that we dun exist n nothing happened is just TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE...

peace out...

What A "Wonderful" World....

an astonishing scene on TV one day shocking my mum & me...

we saw a famous pastor-cum-singer-cum-mother with both her arms covered with tattoos... our first reaction was... "Is that real? Why did she do that? Can she do that?..."

well apparently u can...

even if u r a pastor...

especially when u r a celeb...

not if u r a parent...

u will become a totally bad example for ur kids i'd say...

in my mum's words... " u r destroying the body that ur parents gave to u... n for that u will receive some form of 'punishment'..."

'punishment' or no 'punishment'.... i think it'll come in e form of kids following... n prob getting into trouble... getting into gang... fights... etc... e whole list can go on forever...

so...

i think this pastor-cum-singer-cum-mother... should just go n atone her SINS by doing some GOOD in the society... n NOT be such a BAD example for her fans, her church followers, and most importantly, her kids...

peace out...

humans... selfish animals???

i lament on the similarities of our fates that we all as humans have to go through...

it's an ugly and unwelcomed phase that we all have to put up with...

i for one am no encourager of religious or spiritual intervention in these rites of passage...

i do not believe that things like those will make any difference to the situation...

if u weren't a good person in life, it won't make any difference even if u have a religion or not... u don't adhere to the rules of the religion... cos u can't be bothered... Ur own happiness and enjoyment are more important than breaking a couple of rules... it doesn't matter... other ppl r insignificant compared to u own needs and wants... ao who cares abt them... u want e intervention to be in aid of helping u achieve ur own motives and goals...

does these all sound familiar???

having seen so many ppl behaving like such... i really wonder how many actually act like they preach??? n be angelic n philantropic... n donate all their excess money to charities to aid the poor n unfortunate... we certainly dun see THAT happening everyday... cos ppl r inherently selfish animals... they care ONLY abt THEMSELVES... e rest r just a distraction from their SOLE goal of attaining excellence for ONESELF...

peace out...

A Nagging Sign...

ever sometimes feel like something's wrong but you can't quite pint point it???

well i seem to be having this bugging feeling with a nagging eye lid twitch that has been on and off since last week...

People say that a twitch on your right eye lid means something good is going to happen.... and the left eye lid means something bad is going to happen...

very unfortunately...

mine's the left eye lid...

i certainly hope i'm not suffering from some eye muscle disorder from seeing too much of the PC screen... due to long hours of script writing, editing, etc... otherwise it'll be a real disaster...

i think i'm so tired nowadays i have no energy to even peel open my eye lids... much less twitch them... but the left side just has a mind of its own...

maybe it's a sign to look left more often...

maybe it's a sign to rest my eyes more...

maybe it's a sign to take a break from work...

maybe it's a sign to...

hopefully after the short trip to nearby friendly shopping malls, KTVs & cinemas will cure some of the twitching...

Jacuzzi or sauna might do e trick for e overworked muscles all over the body...

a massage would be heavenly...

but remains far in the horizon, away from materialization...

peace out
Same Old Twitch

A Moment of Silence....

News came from a dear friend of mine not so long ago that her beloved mentor, friend, and elder has been hospitalised...

and now he has passed on peacefully...

i take this blog entry to express my deepest condolences to my mate who has been there for me when i went through my own painful experiences...

and hope that i can be there to lend a hand or shoulder whenever you need...

to our dear respected sir and forever missed cheerful old man...
thanks for all your hospitality whenever we visit for school or for fun...
thanks for all your patience with our often rowdy and loud bunch disrupting ur quiet family weekend evenings...
and most of all...
thanks for all your warmth for making us all feel so at home, no matter how long or short the visit...

may peace and joy be always with you...