"Nihon jin desu ka?"

A cute japanese gal asked me this question in the EastPoint foodcourt yesterday. Her family was with her, she probably popped this question because I was having the same japanese set meal at the next table.

I shook my head and told her no.

She asked again in English, "Do you understand Japanese?"
"Yes, abit. Just now you asked me whether I am a Japanese rite?" Honestly, I was abit flattered.

She smiled and looked away, telling her daddy that I was not Japanese.

It seemed that Japanese thought all looked the same and most of the time they will mistake us as their nationality. The mainland chinese also could not really tell the differences of chinese from malaysia, chinese from china .. Taiwanese etc... And if you happen to use yr chinese name in workplace, they will think that you are from mainland China. It sounded rather insulting as most of the time, locals relate mainland china gals as "xiaolong nu", foreign workers or other negative acronyms. There goes the same to those "pei du ma ma". I really pitied them but yet, I do not really support the idea of them working in "sleazy" areas like "foot reflexology health care centres", which obviously are not meant to be.

To me, some China gals are hardworking, but appeared rather aggressive. Singaporean men like them because they are fairer, more feminine. What could the reasons be? Some were saying Singaporean women prefered ang mohs, or Singaporean men are just not good enough.

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Some random shoots over the weeks.

It is Children's Day tmr, happened to see this Children's Day carnival at the Expo.
Entrance's free.

Guys, pls dun do this... it is either you got big balls or you simply disregard yrself as a gentleman.

While on my way to NUS, I took this picture of the future NUS new town. We are supposed to visit this place for the school project.

Brother playing with XBOX, WorldCup all day. That's the game where you can never get tired of playing.

Finally, the IMF is over. What have we gained this time?

Wow, how time flies.

It has been 2 months since I've started work in the new place. Looks like I am slowly getting used to the civil servant life. Well, this is also a place where you can get to travel to other parts of Singapore to explore areas you have never been before. And not to mention, my photo taking skills have improved too. I am now able to capture panoramic views using the office's Canon Powershot. In some circumstances, we also organise some outings in the day to visit some secluded areas like Bukit Chandu, Sungei Buloh.

Tired but contended. :)

This morning, Evonne jioed me to the NATAS Fair at Expo. We are supposed to grab some info for the Japan tour. It was postponed 2 years ago and finally we had managed to book it this time round!! It will be a 7 days trip to Honshu, which consists of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. We will be spending our Xmas there too!! Hee... what's got to be like for Xmas there? I remembered I've always been spending my Xmas overseas.... Bangkok from a company's trip, Johor Bahru with friends and this time round, in JAPAN!!! Hee :) How romantic...

Hmm, but firstly, I have to "kill" all my exams first, which will be coming in this coming Nov. The tutorials, assignments too.

I gave in and gave up too easily.
It applies to my relationship and studies as well.
I need to stop and reflect what I am doing now.

Fun with plasticines~

These kids are cheeky! Haha.. :D

My 2 very talented cousins

After endless listening to Mr Brown's podcast on the "Ba cho mee man", they came up with their version of the "Mee pok man"!!! However, they failed to realise that meepok dun really have "tur gua" on it.

Enjoy it by the way~ haha...

Group Projects

It is extremely difficult to work in large groups comprising of different people. I am not saying that I am anti-social or doesn't wish to share anything but given the short time-frame, it'd be better to sometimes do things yourself rather to waste time editing another person's work.

There are other typical factors that lead to project success/failure

1) Proper time management - With less people, there will be less time management. Because everybody's time is different, it is difficult to make everyone meet for discussions. Some wishes to spend less in tutorials, some wishes to spend more. Some have to go for their family activities, some have friends gatherings. Some sacrifice their time to work while others simply do not have time to discuss.

2) Lack of a good leader - Leaders plays an important part in the team. He/she is able to see the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. Forming a team structure is also essential, by delegating the right job to the right person is the next.

A leader is also a person who earns respect from the rests and he/she sets the group's objectives right. He/she must also make the right judgements and forsees the outcome when decisions are made and shall be responsible for whatever consequences are to come.

However, I have yet to see a good leader.

Testing~ Uploading pics at blogger

Yes, I've uninstalled Mcafee and installed Norton instead. Mcafee literally blocked all my pop-ups, including those pic uploaders from blogger.

Things have turned up much better with the new software. I am at ease now.

Now back to my studies.

No one will be able to see you sweating, doing the measurements, taking photos under the hot sun and using Adobe to draw stupid plans for the whole day.



All they care about is the final planning brief and some smart aleck to present to the boss when she is in the good mood.

no freedom

being a civil servant sucks...

I dunno what happened to my laptop

Haven been updating since my laptop was infected by the sasser virus. It turned out so bad that I had to format it and reinstalled everything. I also had problems in accessing into internet and typing into those feedback in IVLE. I even had problems in adding pictures into blogspot cos it kept popping out "Popups are blocked" message below the bar even though I've turned off my popup blocker.

I'll be shifting house soon btw.

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