HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINYAN, WENHUI and WANSEAN! FROM BEIJING~!




just a quick blog here and a couple of pictures... to keep my parents updated...

Here's me and my attachie (aka atapchi) up on the great wall of china!~

That's another of my colleague, he's called "Another Lee". There were 2 Lees in the office, hence the name to prevent confusion. Anyway, Great Wall rocks! lots of them!

And yea, it wsa exhausting along the way!!! We went to Simatai/Jinshanling, where the great wall is unrestored, and left as it's orginal state after weathering for 500 years. So the road was pretty tough to walk up and down.

Ok that's all my folks and my friends! Hope all of u guys have a wonderful day..

yay. received a parcel from adeline and gang. not for me but for my dear attachie aka jiahui aka chao sun ( her pet name) . she got alot of presents wor! she's so loved! but i had my little share... thanks miss WONG CHUHUI! so sweet!! I miss both u and kennichi!!! i miss networking sessions thru the night at amk 24 hours macs!!! hehehe...

talking about macs, i didn't have appetite to have dinner. but i think she remembers my mum's words to her : "take care of XXXXX ah!" she went to take a walk downstairs and tabaoed macs!!! YAY! i'm so loved too!! haha!! and she got like happy meal and they gave us a silly watermelon hello kitty. =/ hahahaha... it's now hanging on the door with a stupid expression in a silly green costume.

Yesterday was a little emotional day for me. which added on the my countless mood swings here in beijing. why do i have such extremities? but dear joshie went like " don't be afraid to show ur weak side". ah. u have no idea how much that means to me. my team leader even asked me what happened to me but i brushed it off with a "mid-intership crisis". haha! it must be i think! that's why. but i guess it was mainly just some internal struggle regarding some personal issues that sparked off when a somebody finally nudged me over msn from Denmark. and when i thought i could be cool and strong, i broke down eventually. but i guess i'm fine now. that's always what it's like when i'm alone, esp when out of singapore. so it's just peak and trough of my stay here in wonderful beijing!

Finished tender report. Finished estimation. Went for tender interviews. Went for client's meeting. Went to look at site. Learned Pre-qualification report. and coming to end of week 6. Aiyah!!! So fast! i don't want to go home!

Doing tender report here at work. Went Tian an Men on Saturday. Lazed in bed on Saturday and later headed to the huge sports warehouse!!! Cheap backpacks (those super big kind for 6 months travellin up the mountains and caves or for permanent migration for 1300 RMB = S$260) and shoes and sportswear, winter sportswear... going gaga!

Later we had farewell for richie the pm-in-china-but-engineer-in-singapore in this nice courtyard restaurant... first time the 2 swakoo kias ate beijing roast duck... which i overestimated it's taste... and buddha jumps over the wall... then went to hagen-daaz for ice-cream and chatting away....

Just yesterday, after work, YM and JH and I went Lido for a bowling session and after the bowling, we went crazy running around, singing out loud on the streets and waving our socks around like siao cha bors.

okie, this entry is just for record's sake. i need to go thru the tender report which has been leaving me puzzled for the past 2 hours. cheers!

Hi Mum!

Spoke to my mum on skype last night and we were practically laughing, and sometimes shrieking away... nice to hear mum's happy voice and her laughter... maybe because as a teenager we would always not be around at home so hardly talk that much... much less chatting on the phone and sharing stories. Well Mum! if you're reading this, hope to receive an email from you, with you Vietnam photos attached!

p.s. can't wait to get home to try out the new camera! it rocks!

Anyway, for more stories about my life in china, get onto http://www.the-rebel-in-me.blogspot.com/! Lots of pictures, sights and sounds (ok, no sounds) of China! Where all our ancestors used to come from!

We've been looking at places to go these days, and thinking of inner mongolia too. really must pray hard that we don't have to OT this weekend... actually this job aso no fixed timing... nothing to do, then go home on the dot... got thing to do then pia until night...说 9 to 5 也不算 9 to 5. bascially we are just slaves for the clients... No wonder our prof used to say the developers are the gods and we are just serving them and making them happy.

Been on my estimate for about a month. Got this assignment since day 1 of my work... but half the shopping mall was bought over by another developer so i had to do a new estimate... so in all there's like 3 estimate... old, variation and new. It's not difficult... it's just tedious... and architects just use materials based on aesthetic value... I called one of them to ask for the price of a glass pane and he honestly said he doesn't know, and usually architects wouldn't know. That's where we come in handy lorh. yes!

besides work... let's talk about something fun! Last Friday we went to Fridays! (TGIF) and they've got good food! and the company was great! Basically there were Richie, Vera, Jinkian, Hinlye, Yanmei, Joshie and me! the whole night we were talking about 欠扁问答题... and laughing at how i couldn't get the answer.. even Joshie got it right??!??

talking about qbwdt, 麒麟到北极会变成什么?? yanmei was totally absolutely amused by this qbwdt... we just laughed our heads off!!!! and 小白加小白是什么？ just absolutely hilarious!!! Think we spent half the Saturday holding our tummies and almost rolling on the floor... we were suppose to rush an estimate project but we needed a destresser and qbwdt is the way to go!!! never appreciated these qbwdt jokes so much before... not only because they are funny but they have the power to bring people closer to each other too... and that's really endearing. much more 珍贵. The most difficult one was probably Vera's 大象放屁 - 猜一个歌. that's like so far-fetch! but afterall, qbwdt! Thinking about them, actually i can't wait to do a music recording with the whole gang! (WHOLE GANG, not 1 less!!!) Actually abit regret not joining them for k-session the last time round... must have been quite fun then...

Oh yes! how can i not have blogged about something... our local colleague brought us out and invited us to her house... her mum cooked homecooked dishes! Gosh, it was really very very heartwarming and their whole family is so hospitable... her mum cooked jiao zi and lots of dishes... got fish, got meat, yea, very nice family! She was telling us how young people rather move out to stay on their own... but because she is the only child (so common here) she wants to spend time with her family so she would rather travel to work everyday for 1 hour ++ than to move nearer to the office.

Anyway, Beijing overall is a nice place to live in... the city is quite developed, many people have a decent apartment to live in... and maybe because i haven't seen the other side of Beijing city yet. I would love to but sometimes there isn't much point in doing so because for once, i'm not doing charity work.

Ok, pictures in this edited entry! got work to do!

finally once without OT... worked for 9 consecutive days and have been helping out in another project until 1am last night... to add on to my misery came my big aunt... of all days! i had to "entertain" her and it was tiring... popped in 4 panadols but it wasn't enough to ease the pain... thanks to my dear attachie, who ran down to get hot chocolate for me... it helped! i must say, that was quite sweet. The whole day was tiring. Clients were horrible but it's part of working life... when there's something to rush out, it doesn't matter how it is done, it just has to be completed.

several interesting things happened... but not all ain't good. My team leader was put under alot of pressure, she took half day off and still wasn't spared. I do hope she tides over this stressful period quick... she's our 开心果. everytime she comes to our corner, our moods will be lifted! we agree on this unanimously! Her classic "huuuh" and " sollie laaaaa" amuses us from head to toe... and her outbursts of laughters somehow puts our worries away... whether it's work or personal problems, her presence just seems to make everything else feel right. am i exaggerating too much? when i was agonising in my own worries, this 大姐大will pull me out of it (not intentionally though) and make me feel that things aren't as bad as i think. because i simply think too much. so when she's upset, me and my attachie will too.

Well, we rushed out an estimate in 2 days, but i think she had to redo several things again. then my attachie's client, being unreasonable but usual, demanded that they come up with the measurements on the same day, no matter how late in the night. hence the nasty 1am OT in the office. OTs are tiring but we both have grown closer to the people here. people always grow closer in times of adversity, so OTs really ain't that bad.

and i'm tired now. blog soon.

Sunday afternoon and doing OT in the office... so much work to do my team leader is so stressed.

what to do? china is developing too quickly... want to beat dubai upside down...

Miss my squadmates. blogspot has been blocked by china and it isn't unsual, so can only see squad blog through my blogger account... very long never see others le...

enjoy baaa....

Just for Lonald Norbit... for cheering me up and assuring me that things will be fine..

surprisingly he has a way with words... constructive ones... so well, this post is dedicated to him.

These days, Jiahui have seen some drama in the office... how the locals don't give face to each other they just question each other why the kind of attitude they gave... because locals cannot swallow their pride... and they pretty much stand up for justice when it calls for one... a 22 year old receptionist girl questioning a 40 year old admin staff... why the hell she "bad-mouth" her to the AD... Jiahui said she was shocked coz the receptionist girl looked quiet and pleasant... but she 牙尖嘴利 it seemed like no one could out-talk her...

Receptionist（22岁）: 为什么你跟 AD 说我不要给你那个文件？
Admin（40岁）: … 我现在很忙，很多东西做，等下班了再说。
Receptionist：我也是很忙，也有很多东西做， 所以我们现在先解决这个。
Admin: 我真得很忙， 没时间。
Receptionist：你今天一定要给我一个答复。 这可是关于我的人格。
Admin：你不要把私事和公事撤在一块儿。 如果是私事我们下班后再讲，如果是公事你可以直接找老板。
Receptionist：我可以直接找老板，但是我先来找你是因为我尊敬你。 我喊你一声李姐， 你知道是什么意思吗？我知道我年纪轻，还在读书，但是我谢涛 （her name）不是好欺负的。
Admin: …
Receptionist: 如果我今天没听到一个合理的解释，我的名就不叫谢涛!!
*Sits on the chair next to the Admin Lady and KIAO KA*
Admin: 哇靠 (with beijing accent)

according to JH, the whole office was quiet with a long slience... when the whole incident finally came to an end, 蔡姐 stood up and 毫无其实 and ask 有没有人要吃凉面？hahhaa... i'm sure it was a good comic relief to ease the tension... or was it because such scenes have already become 家常便饭 for them??

Then aso the locals can be quite ridiculous. After the Receptionist incident, comes the Technical Assistant, who's only here for the holidays, 22 years old too, and she demanded the Admin Lady for a CONTRACT. and so, the Admin Lady couldn't give it to her because it's company policy that u can't get a contract unless u are working full-time or be certified (we are afterall a professional QS company). That makes sense right?

Admin Lady said 如果你坚持要的话你要去找老板。这个不是我的工作范围之内。

So the TA barked back: 所以，我是要去问老板, 过后就来教你，是吗？

Well, I really do admire their straightfowardness and standing up for themselves. When they confront each other, I like the way they argue their way, how they can twist something trivial to something that mattered the world to them. I’m puzzled, yes, but beyond their words speaks a lot about themselves. How they were able to use words to deliver what they feel inside… whether its anger, furiousness, anxiousness… they have beautiful and the just the perfect phrase at their fingertips to express themselves.

Sometimes I think, why is it that I am not able to argue back sometimes and that we rather keep quiet and let it the matter pass? If we were more eloquent, have more boldness and perhaps with some wit, will we have the balls to confront the guy who says FUCK in your face? (read: From page 47362 of Mantras of Adelism - www.blanktop.blogspot.com) I’m sure we all can… like our China Boss say: don’t pick up the bad attitudes from the locals, only their measurement skills are good. – well, not everything is bad. There’s still lots of goodness within their atrocities.

Sometimes judging people from how they treat their subordinates doesn't give the complete picture.

And so to my dearest Lonald… Please read and tag.

i am liking myself... lesser and lesser each day...

Me and Primary School Friend...

Soong Qing Ling's Residence... THANKS!

About I

it's noon and i'm still on the bed today. this morning, my co-intern aka jiahui, woke up damn early (上班都没有那么早...）to go for cherry plucking. It's the season now, but i chose to opt out of this outing.

So i had the whole morning, and internet, to myself... and it's kinda quiet around the house, so luckily i had mr. Vaio for company. he's a great companion.. comtemplating firing my Tecra and replacing him. Doesn't satisfy me enough. haha!!

Anyway, i'm going out in a while, and meeting Yinjie! yay! my primary school friend, whom i haven't lost contact with all these while... very nice person to hang out with and occassionally go out together! and for several years that i haven't seen her, i finally got to see her "new" brother who has already grown up... i was thinking why there's an "additional" boy in the car... hahaha! 原来 her mum gave birth to another boy... hahaha... quite cool sia...

last night's dinner was a hell of a fun night! whoa kao, i never met such a hilarious bunch of people... and is something only singaporeans/malaysians can appreciate... silly lame jokes, long long drama mama stories, just plain teasing and the finale 10 min non-stop laughters... AIYO. FYI: some are from the 70s. Really enjoyed my night with them!!! Wish at the end of every work day, it will always as therapeutic as last night... everyone had so much fun...


I have been prejudice, i have found too muny faults, i should count my blessings.