Boredom kills the duck? Wif a non-exciting life i m leading now, i get bored very easily. In fact, i m bored about 3/4 of my life. Somehow, nothing sounds attractive to do now. Maybe it's a compensation for the previous hyperactivity.

My GM says i hv an unexcitable personality & a very-difficult-to-be-convinced character, unfortunately i don't disagree. She also said dat sometimes i m lively but sometimes i m very quiet.

I told her it's the caffeine lah.

Haha..who the heck toks to their GM like dat...i m so pushing my luck manz.

Well, part of my stoning routine these days includes playing Bejeweled 2, dis totally meaningless & time-squandering but darn addictive game at Yahoo! Games.

So far, the highest score & level i hit:

Today:

Grrrrrrrrr....died at the same level, wif a lower score somemore, wth...Highest i went was L 14 only. Dammit. So difficult.

Help me! I m turning into a geek!

  ¶ J poppycocked at 4:48:00 PM
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  Pit-Stop? Some updates about my non-working life! Let's see, so far, LG- Life's Good. Hehehe.

Now with too much free time on hand, i do lotsa things which i couldn't do when i was slogging like a cow in d office. Dat includes watching movies after movies, couch-potato u can call mi, not to 4get the snacking bit, laze around & conveniently fall asleep when my eyes nid a break, since i watch most of the VCDs on my bed.

And having a TV in ur room is the 1st step to lazy-hood, people. The 2nd, is to ensure all the remotes are within ur arm's length. Hehe.

Yes, yes i m so wasting my life away, i noe u must be thinking. Honestly, i m guilty bout it. Really. Despite well-deserving it. I mean the lazing around bit. Considering how hard i worked for the past coming to 2 yrs previously, i ought not to feel bugged when i m supposed to be enjoying life ya noe. I tell u, it's all in the mind manzzz. Dis is how successful our society has drilled us to believe dat without toil comes no pleasures. It's a disease!! Wad the hell.

Well, it sure doesn't help when the Dowager is constantly nagging away in the background. Reminding mi i could hv done 1001 household chores instead wif the time i have.

I get her, cept i reli dun wanna do it..?!

I want a carefree life, Hakuna Matata! & feeling gulity bout it wasn't part of the plan! Wad's going onnnnn???? *strangles self*

Let's remind self of the pleasures of a non-working life! For reassurances.

Not needing to sleep early or wake up early is the best thing! It's zen. For mi. Early is anytime before noon.

Going to bed on a Sunday night without worrying Monday's coming is close to orgasmic. Not dat i noe wad's one. *twirls thumbs around each other*

Not needing to be paranoid bout who will not turn up for work or who's gonna backstab who in d office again, is simply..............cowabunga!!!!! Wadever dat reli means.

I can sit, sleep, eat, laugh, jump, run, swim, fly, roll...anytime, anywhere i wanto...!!! Beat dat suckas! Hurhur.

Wad the hell! I can even pack up anytime & leave the country if i wanto!

Ok ok..i noe, no money's coming in now. But i stil got money to feed myself la huh..

Don't look at mi like dat lehhh.  ¶ J poppycocked at 12:46:00 AM
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  A Glimpse of Krabi :) Hey heyeee~ Here are some updates bout the much anticipated trip!

I didn't manage to grab alot of fotos dis time round though..a lil' lazy. Hehe. I secretly made Pinz do all the work...hurhur..pls dunch tell her.

And huh, i alwaz take random fotos so dun blame mi if the fotos i post are abit odd. ;P

Anyway, dis is rougly how the place looks like. I do find Krabi a lil' like Phuket, only less commercialised. Dey've got trusty 7-11s & McDonalds, but not Watsons like Phuket. It's off-peak for dem now, so there wasn't much traffic on the streets as shown in the foto.


The shops like previously mentioned, are almoz homogeneous. The price's much cheaper, but so are the quality of the products. Zzzz..

The following is just a pretty sight of my breakfast. Haha. Dey have other variety too like toast, buns & staple food but it seemed a lil' too early to digest rice & noodz so i didn't tried any. The hotel bfast spread is pretty much the same everyday tho so i pretty much ate the same thing everyday. So the following foto X 3 times summarizes all the food i ate for the 3 mornings i was there.

Then there's this complimentary duck noodle in the package which the tour guide brought us to eat on the last day of our stay. Apparently, it's very popular among locals, it's alright for mi only. The following foto is actly a pic taken of my leftovers. Well, in all fairness, i wasn't hungry to begin wif la huh. Dey do have very potent chilli though! But it's a pity i don't reli have a good foto of our tour guide, tink he has a rather nice & warm smile!

And the ones reponsible for the popular duck noodz...

Darn! I 4got to take a foto of the hotdog bun & black pepper chicken burger from 7-11, which were my dinner for 2 respective nights. Lol* Whhhaaaat!??! Those were reli cheap & good ya noe..their 7-11 sell cool stuff too! The hotdog bun's about 20 baht, which is less than a Sing dollar & the burger 30 baht, slightly over a dollar only. Jin ho jiak ok!

I also do not hv a foto of dis mango pancake from a random roadside stall, which was delicious, generous on the helping of mango & cheap! A dollar plus minus for food we did not LS after, not bad! Oops sori, but no foto to show...guess i was too famished to tink straight. Hurhur.

Then i noticed dat many of the locals were donning dis eye-catching yellow tee wif a Thailand logo on the left chest area. Initially i tot it was some uniform from maybe, a certain massage parlour or even hotel. But when dey start to appear all over the place, i knew i probly tot wrong.

Later i found out the tee actly represents "Long live the King", something like to celebrate the King's birthday & pledge loyalty & support to him i reckoned. Dey even have retail shops set up specially to sell tees like this. Pretty big for a political statement i must say.

Then i caught dis random sight on the street which seemed kinda hilarious. Biker dog! Dey hv more stray dogs than we do. Lotsa shop owners own huge pet dogs & some look pretty nice. Quite cool.

Well, after the news about the military coup thing, their defence seemed to hv heightened coz on our way back at the Krabi airport, we caught sight of a few military men patrolling & observing the crowd intently. Dunch think dey were around when we arrived though. Wif all those political tension going on, guess it's only justifiable for tourists to b a lil' paranoid.

Dis foto was actly taken wif Pinz & Pin's sis posing but of coz the focal wasn't on dem. It was like a pretext for mi to take a pic of their back views. Hurhur...hope i won't get into trouble...i dun wanto be held at gunpoint okkkkk.

And last but not least, my favorite random foto of dis seemingly lonesome dog by the coast. It looks kinda cool when enlarged. It's on my wallpaper now. :)

And dat's all folks!

  ¶ J poppycocked at 11:57:00 PM
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  Are u still friends? Back from Krabi & still alive. Did not get dragged away by the Thai military alright.

It has been a longgggggg time since i stayed up.

Well now dat i m not bogged down by working life, i m not bogged down by waking up early anymore. At least not now.

Fantastic, for i m no morning bird.

Last night i was awake till 4.30am. Nvm the screwed up bio-clock, for it was for a cause worth its while.

It's funny how sometimes u mention of the past out of the blue & the past comes back to u the very nxt minute?

Just earlier the evening yesterday, we met up wif Pin for dinner at Sakae, dey had some promo going on apparently, and some excerpts of our secondary school life came up at the dinner table.

It was ezier, since all 3 of us were from the same secondary school, of different cliques but we pretty much knew the same people.

It all started when i saw a couple wearing secondary school uniform who came on the bus at some point & the way dey behaved simply reminded mi of how we were like in secondary school. Then of coz, the usual cycle repeated itself for umpteen times, u realised how old u hv become & laments at how the days had just passed u by like dat.

More significantly, it reminded mi of all those bizarre things dat happened during secondary school, how it began & how it ended. All had happened when neither of us involved had a good, single idea of how to deal wif a relationship or understand wad's going on as a matter of fact.

I was up till dawn last night toking to an old, old fren on msn. One of whom shared a past wif mi.

It was reli enlightening, to hear his side of the coin of wad happened back then on his end. U reli cud nvr hv known better. I cudn't hv known if we were no longer friends & i m reli glad we still are.

Who says the past doesn't matter? It does. It shudn't swerve where u r going nxt but good or bad, it's the past which molds u today.

He told mi plennnnnty of things dat happened during the relationship which i wasn't aware of. How all the sweet moments we shared left a footprint in him, and how the ordeals tore him apart and y he did certain things he did. Of course, i shared my part of the story wif him too.

He also reminded mi some things which i hv clean forgotten. Despite it being a very short 3 months, he remembered more than i did. As apologetic as i was for the silly things i did, he thanked mi for wad happened, including the heartaches & tears, which i sheepishly acknowledged.

For 2 pretty similar individuals back then, we concluded the getting together back then was just too untimely.

It's difficult to get dis kinda ignorant, but sincere concern from others now u noe. Things just get more complicated.

If u ever hv the chance, and if u r still friends wif ur past whom u can talk to freely, i urge u to talk about the past wif him or her. Nitty-gritties notwithstanding, it will be an eye-opener.

Wadever the case, the conversation was interesting while it lasted.

It was a sweet, but closed chapter for 2 very different individuals now.

:)  ¶ J poppycocked at 3:18:00 PM
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  Coming In Live from Krabi! Everything's ok here, cept that i can't sms or call out.

The hotel's pretty close to nature, so there r tonnes of creepy crawlies here, especially at night.

Didn't manage to buy much though. All the shops look the same & sell almost the same stuff. Some stuff are still cheaper though.

We also tried some roadside food, damn brave of us.

Pray for us, may we not LS.

Just caught on BBC while we were watching TV in the room till my fren's brother called her to check if everything's fine. Apparently, Thaksin has declared Bangkok to be in a state of emergency. -_-'''

Different places la i know, but still same country mah..

Of all times...zzzzzz...

Pray for us we get back safe & sound too.

Will be bck tmr evening. Shall update more about the trip then.

Later.  ¶ J poppycocked at 12:28:00 AM
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  Nearing D End. So, packing is tiring. Especially when it involves papers. 2 years worth of documents & files on the desk, in the shelves, under the table, in the trays, in the drawers. Wah laoz. *sweatz*

I am almost done though, with the packing, at least for the day. Good thing i started lugging stuff home since last week. Plannnnn aheaddddd...always plan ahead.

Must comment it feels weird, to be free. Surrounded with the stressed faces around mi, i m reassured again; that the choice is right.

Another branch manager called my manager dis morning again, proposing another role for mi in their branch. I m supposed to call & find out more. Which, i m hesitating. Wow. R dey persistent or R dey persistent............-_-

It's interesting how fast news spread though.

If u r the kind who likes to maintain a low profile, but still has to inform others of your disappearance, purely out of obligation, the best way is to just tell a selective few, whom u can rely on broadcasting the news for u.

At the same time, dat of coz, also inversely equates to whom u can entrust confidential matters to.

Be back later to blog more. Going out for lunch now.  ¶ J poppycocked at 12:37:00 PM
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  Perspective, from my angle. Apparently I had intended to blog about this interview I had with a job seeker who walked into our office the other day. That was my first time interviewing an ex-convict, well not exactly convict, since he was admitted to a Boy’s Home. It felt kinda jittery; honestly, I feel I do better with Executives still.

Anyway, sometimes we can’t help but be lil' superstitious in our line. We are always very conscious about jinxing stuff. I guess it’s bcoz we have seen too many coincidences on the job, and inevitably feeling kinda freaked about it.

Recently, I seem to be getting lotsa candidates of considerable age.

This can’t be good.

Normally they come to mi feeling down, pessimistic & need loads of counseling and consoling.

That can’t be good either.

I can understand why dey feel so jaded but honestly speaking, I can also see why the situation for dem is so difficult to improve.

For starters, I ought to be very practical in saying dat, as a Pte Ltd company in the service industry, our main concern remains at profit-making for the company.

At the risk of sounding like a stone-hearted corporate bitch, it is beyond our means to alter the market situation in a bid to help the senior candidates as we are not akin to charitable or governmental organizations where dey can afford not to allow profit to become their main reason of existence.

We, as the company’s employees, are still keener to meet candidates with better market value in a nutshell. Sorry to say dat, but it’s true.

To us, time is money.

At the same time, I think there r reli better places for them to go, if dey genuinely need assistance. Like FSCs & WDA.

Of course, ageism shud never be advocated, it’s gonna be everybody’s turn in no time anyway! Growing old is reli not a disease & we wished employers could see that.

One day when dis materialises, this category of people could then become employable again & Recruiters can then widen the supply pool to mit the demand.

As much as we wanna be philanthropic & idealistic about it, there is reli minimal stuff we can do now.

As a 3rd party, I see older folks coming to us in utmost despair & frustration and the best I can do is to hear them out, since many of them are singles & residing alone. I guess sometimes, people just need an outlet versus a solution.

However, I do encounter some of the older folks who are not helping themselves to help the situation. Dey simply blame the government for not helping, the employers for being mean, the high cost of living & the society for being dis way.

Of course, anything but demselves.

It seems like the circumstances here are pretty much the same as in US; in every situation, it is always somebody else’s fault.

But then again, do we all not have people like dat crossing our path?

And how sure r we, dat we r not just like these people whom we point our fingers at?

Just food for thought.

Have a good weekend. :)  ¶ J poppycocked at 6:46:00 PM
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  2 Milestones Completed. Well, not exactly milestones, more like...kilometre-stones.

Yesterday was a significant day to remember. I have achieved kilometre stones to perfecting effective communication.

I confronted a colleague, let's name her Xiao Ren, to clarify a conflict of interest. Haiyaz. Typical office politics, which i tried so hard to avoid but to no avail still.

If u noe wad i do for a living, u wud hv tot communication comes naturally, since the job nature highly demands for it. But really, u cud nvr be too good to learn more about effective communication & it's a different ball game altogether when u tok to internal people.

Basically it's alwaz the same o' story when it comes to sales. It's difficult to advocate teamwork when the nature of the job is so competitive.

Situation was like this in a nutshell- Both of us spoke to the same candidate, candidate went for both interviews & both companies offerred her & candidate picked my position over hers.

Of course I understand Xiao Ren's frustration when the candidate rejected her post but it was clearly a square game since all options were presented to the candidate equally.

I was pretty unhappy wif wad she accused mi of doing behind her back, when it was clearly no fault of mine. I could feel her negative vibes even tho we are seated oceans apart.

Thing is, it's one matter to tell me upfront how she felt about the whole situation. It's a separate matter when Xiao Ren complains to another colleague, let's call her Attention Seeker, about her displeasures.

Obviously, that puts mi in a rather bad light since i will not be able to defend for myself & it's detrimental when her inputs could possibly affect how other colleagues perceive me.

Well, when Attention Seeker tried to defend me, Xiao Ren wasn't very please at all. So Xiao Ren end up being cheesed off with both Attention Seeker & me.

Wahliaoz eh...got abit more secondary school ornot?!?!?!?

As much as I wanted to just slap Xiao Ren awake so dat she could twirl her brain around & quit acting so childishly, i decided not to stoop as low. Hurrrr. I decided upon the adult way-Tok.

The standard obstacle course is presented to me in this manner- When u tok to non-objective people like dat, it takes alot of mental preparation & rehearsal, for she will most probably be already biased to begin with & high chance, very defensive too.

While the opposition is so heavily guarding her fortress, in order to have a fruitful conversation, I, as the confronter, nids to not only keep my frustrations in check so dat my stand could be conveyed across objectively (make mental note: the mind can't think straight if anger is blinding the way). Choice of words are highly crucial too. Seriously. It's not even the last thing i wan- to hurt the opposition's ego & aggravate the tension.

Now, we all know how delicate an issue Ego can be. So let's not go there.

In short, controntation is a mean feat, at least for mi. I honestly do better at the listening end.

In conclusion, i felt the conversation could have gone abit better but i'm glad i decided to thrash things out wif her. It's such a horrible feeling to have it stuck in your throat.

The 2nd thing dat made yesterday memorable was when i tapped on a chap's shoulder & asked him not to lean on the pole. Dammit! The train was so crowded & dat inconsiderate fool shud be more civic-minded. Well, not to mention, dat was a trainful of people struggling to balance themself in their heels, cot shoes, leather shoes, pointed shoes, but not one had the guts to tell him off.

I HAVE ALWAZ WANTED TO DO DAT.

Guahahahaha. He apologized & stopped leaning on the pole. In all, there were 6 hands holding the pole consequentially.

I counted triumphantly.  ¶ J poppycocked at 10:35:00 AM
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