just like the old empires

Tuesday

i had a very quickie interview at SPH on Tuesday morning. went to work with Nates at 9am, and sat down with this lady from HR for like 10 minutes. ever since Nates offered me the job (whom i am truly grateful to for thinking of me), there have been some proposed changes about when i start work, but it looks like everything’s resolved by now. i’m working from mid-June through the third week of July. they extended my contract period a week more than the original offer. i didn’t want to commit to work all the way until like the last day of July, since next semester begins in early August.

in all honesty, the pay and working hours aren’t drop-dead desirable. my work period also clashes with the freshmen camp i’m involved with; so i’ll have to find a way to work around that, like swop for more off days. Nates has been really good about things like that, offering to swop with me and stuff.

as for my driving classes, i’ll probably have to take them in the mornings on days when i’m scheduled to work during the later shift starting at 12noon or something. still, the workplace is close to my house, and i get to save on traveling time and transport expenditure, so not everything’s sad. (:

i guess i’ll just have to push and work really hard next week, especially when it comes to calling sponsors. and find time to meet up with friends to have some fun before i start working full-time. was texting Clement earlier this evening. he’s going to Vietnam end of this month! Cheryl was suggesting something like ice-skating, so maybe we could do that before we all get busy with a million other things.

went out shopping with Mint on Tuesday afternoon. while waiting for her to rendezvous with me, i was shopping around G2000: where i saw this grey summer-weight blazer on sale at $39, with extra 15% off if you pay with your American Express credit card (which i don’t have but my mom does). they didn’t have it my size last time, so i was very excited. i would have been even more excited if it was in black, of course.

so i called Mom, who is super for traveling down from work to help me pay for it with her Amex card. (: thank god it was coincidentally her lunch hour and she could spare the time. yay, love my mommy.

at the store, i had a half-hour bizarre experience with this apparent hairstylist person, who tried her best to persuade me to show up at the salon she works at the next day. she name-dropped a great deal while attempting to convince me to be her model; for her to practice some soft straightening technique she needs to perfect. it’s funny, because Mint is the one who’s been talking about doing something with her hair.

the insane thing was, i’d have to pay like sixty bucks or something. seriously, would i sign on if that’s the case? and i’m reluctant to take a risk with my hair anymore; even though it’s frizzy and frustrates me regularly. still, she was nice enough to give me free unsolicited hairstyling advice, even after i repeatedly declined.

after we bought my blazer, Mint and i had lunch at Pizza Hut (yay pasta!) before traveling to Vivocity to hit the stores. (: the mushroom soup tasted a bit weird though. and free-flow of soda destroys a healthy appetite.

the Gap sale was non-existant to me, apparently. the River Island sale wasn’t as amazing as i expected, maybe because it’s a couple of weeks old. but great shoes at half price. i wish we got to spend more time at Zara, but we were at F21 for quite a while. lol, we went to the changing rooms like three or four times. (: i wasn’t real impressed by the bargain racks, compared to the Wisma Atria outlet. again, probably because the sale has been ongoing for a while now.

but its regular-priced items are pretty as always. i really wanted, but didn’t get, this pair of grey long pants. it was super comfy, like leggings with a boot cut. x) they had some lovely clutches. i especially fancied this flat black wallet/clutch, but it was like $40. O: … in the end, i bought a really nice necklace, which has a black/white pendant on a gold chain. it’s real heavy though, i just realize.

the best part of the day came when we went to Mother Garden. they had this entire range of adorable seal plushies of all sizes and decked out in animal costumes like bee, whale, penguin, elephant, etc. Mint and i couldn’t stop laughing over them. they had cellphone strap plushies and i couldn’t resist. so i persuaded Mint to buy one with me. i got the seal in a turtle outfit, and she got the pink bunny!

we also bought one for Aur so that the Vegetables can all own one. heh, Aur’s one is an obvious choice: the animal she’s currently obsessed with. which i shall not explicitly reveal until we present it to her during our Sunday combined birthday celebratory dinner! (:

i keep bumping into people nowadays whenever i head out. while i was at Vivo, i spotted an ex-colleague, and later a college mate at Topshop. hey Joan. (: and today while i was at dinner with my family, Ming Lee stopped to say hi.

Wednesday

i scheduled theory practices at the driving school yesterday morning. went for two sessions, and did repeated questions for almost 2 hours. boring, but hopefully effective. was shocked to learn that i no longer have to pass a trial test before being allowed to book and take the final theory test.

so i went to the kiosk to book my final theory test like the instructor pushed me to. however, the next available date is on 31st July! ehj;kajdslkasjls;k. >: which i can’t help but have to settle for. at least it’s a morning session. had to extend my course again. and i need to renew my PDL.

had chicken rice for lunch with my Dad after that. (: went home and worked on some biz stuff, tried to read, and tinkled with my DS Lite. i adopted a new Yorkshire Terrier on another Nintendogs game! xDDD; i named it Cookie, and it’s so adorable, i wish it was real.

our very indulgent dinner that evening, was carrot cake and chicken murtabak with spicy fish curry. super duper love. lol, at least we worked off the calories by going grocery-shopping afterward.

my birthday cake was also demolished between all of us yesterday. goodbye, good cake.

Thursday

traveled home via train with James, Zi Jie and Danielle after the meeting. couldn’t catch the Ellen DeGeneres show this evening because of the meeting. and zomg, David Beckham was on the show! i hope i get to catch the re-run tomorrow morning!

other than Ming Lee, also bumped into one of my aunts and her family at dinner time. am very sleepy now.

bonitochico is having a clearance sale! the white eyelet camisole i’ve always liked is now $17.50 mailed. (: pity the Milan dress was sold out super fast. addicthief is also having a reduction sale here. i like this floral kimono top on catwalkclose. and i really like the slouch dress and indie off-shoulder top in this post. unfortunately they were sold damn fast.

love the chiffon blouse on lollipopbestie’s summer dreams collection three. with free normal postage, it’s real tempting. they have been selling some fairly unique dresses lately, such as Peony Purple and Toga Adele in this post. indiesin’s latest collection is temptation as always. the gun shift dress, pink floral tunic top, red woven top, black m-shaped dress are my favorite picks in the post.

• photos by Weegee acquired at a yard sale in Kentucky.
• YSL’s long lasting influence.
• Crosswords DS.
• Tyra Banks has a catalog of smiles?
• i want to watch Sex And The City; but maybe i should watch the series first.
• Gilles Marini, the naked guy in Sex And The City is hot. (:
• Shonda Rimes has pitched Grey’s Anatomy season five’s ending to writers! yay, hopefully there’s progress. (:
• ‘5 Ways to Spot a Fake Photo’!
• black pwns!

i never really liked One Republic’s ‘Apologize’, but their performance with David Archuleta during the American Idol finale a few weeks back, was one of my favorite performances in the show. the lead vocalist’s falsetto is quite steady.

unbelievably beautiful song by 伍家辉. it was featured in one of Channel 8’s recent 9pm dramas and i thought it was so haunting but never quite managed to find out who’s the singer. until we sang it during the kbox session last Friday. (:

伍家辉 - ‘虽然我愿意’

就算我们之间有什么问题
依然想念着你
虽然被放弃
虽然我愿意

就算我们之间有什么难题
黑夜我还想着你
心碎人孤寂
虽然我愿意