Day 02 — Your least favourite song
I do not like trance, heavy metal (with scream-y people), and some techno tunes. I remember this song was popular a long time ago and although it has a nice tune, but the stupid frog is just ANNOYING. Makes me wanna squash it flat so it can just shut up and not spoil the tune.
Day 01 — Your favourite song
I have quite a few favourites, but this song is worth mentioning here. I love OLIVIA inspi’ REIRA (TRAPNEST)’s “A Little Pain”. It is sung by none other than the lovely Olivia Lufkin and was used for the anime version of NANA. I love how the song sounds a little sad yet beautiful. It was this song that introduced me to the singer and I fell in love with her songs. I like how she’s so pixie cute, but she adds a tinge of mysteriousness and sadness to her songs. Sometimes her songs give this whimsical feel. Some songs have an edgier feel to them, but not to the point of giving off the rebellious attitude.
I’ve sung this song at karaoke a few times and each time I listen to/sing it, I picture myself on the edge of a cliff and lifting off to fall gracefully down.
No, it doesn’t stand for U.S. Submarine. Apparently, that’s how Singaporeans call Universal Studios Singapore. I was all confused when my sis kept talking about USS. I was like “why is she talking about going to see an American submarine when we don’t have one here?” But you see, I had just come home from four years in USA and had just visited Pearl Harbor.
Anyway, I went to USS with Sis and Jie Yu yesterday. Haha, I cannot be considered a suaku now that I’ve been there. (The boyfriend says I’m suaku becuase i’ve never been to Fantasy Island.) It was fun re-visiting most of the rides since I’ve been to Universal Studios in Japan and Florida. In fact, I visited it twice in Florida. Compared to both locations, Singapore’s is much much smaller. Beside the Madagascar area and Battlestar Galactica roller coaster, everything else was the same.
I was really looking forward to the Battlestar Galactica roller coaster. Yup, you can call me a roller coaster junkie if you like. The roller coaster is separated to two tracks: HUMAN (red) or CYLON (blue). HUMAN is a regular sit-in carriage type of coaster while CYLON is a suspended seat type of coaster. We got on HUMAN first. It was ok for a coaster, but nothing too special. We couldn’t get on CYLON right after because it was shut down due to technical difficulties. Hmmm…wonder if it was really due to technical difficulties or someone puked on the ride. Anyway, we managed to get on it at dusk. Whoa, CYLON was good. Two loops and a corkscrew plus you go through mist. I think what made the ride good was the suspended seats. Your body moves more with inertia so you get more of the thrill.
The best part was while I was putting my hands up all through the coaster rides, Sis and Jie Yu were huddling, screaming, or closing their eyes. The only times I closed my eyes on a coaster ride was the Thunder Dolphin at Tokyo Dome and The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis. Those were the only two that gave me the “heart in my mouth” and free-falling feelings. Not even Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Orlando gave me those feelings. Heh, some day I will try the coasters at Fuji-Q Highland…especially the new coaster, Takabisha. Oh, but I’ve digressed. Anyway, I think to best experience a coaster ride is to keep your eyes open to see where you’re going so you can really “go with the flow.”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. To think that I heard of the news from a friend’s Facebook status. It truly sucks to be so far away…
I know how people say 人老病死, death is a natural thing when you’re old, but I couldn’t believe that Prof. Goodman was gone. I never got to say goodbye before I left USA because he was in Tokyo. His last words to me was just an email to say he wouldn’t be able to meet me because he was in Tokyo. My only hope now is that he enjoyed the cookies I left as a thank you gift.
Prof. Goodman was a teacher I looked up to and someone I could never thank enough. He was a wise and patient man. I remembered the time when I went to tell him I was having problems understanding the material for EALC464. Although I never said it, I was toying with the idea of dropping the class in my mind. I am glad I didn’t drop the class in the end for I wouldn’t have learnt perseverance. He assured me that even though other students seemed to be speaking up in class a lot, like me, they were probably having trouble with the material too. He encouraged me to ask questions no matter how stupid I thought they were because someone else in the room was probably thinking the same and did not dare ask it. So, by speaking up, I was actually helping my classmates too.
His class was definitely not an easy class. He did not have slides to copy notes from and his handouts were minimal. You made your own notes as the class discussed the text. I bet most students (especially Singaporean students) would have complained, but hey, it is a senior level class and his class emphasized on actual learning and not spoon-feeding. It was definitely for own good.
I admit I’m not someone who is full of ideas or particularly good in any area. My good grades come from perseverance and a willingness to learn. I went to Prof. Goodman about my final paper topic. Together we explored possible topics and finally he mentioned about combining my major with the class for a topic to write on. I finally settled on writing a paper about poster advertisements for Japanese theater. My hard work eventually paid off and I earned an A for the class. To think that months ago I was on the brink of dropping the class. I couldn’t thank Prof. Goodman enough for his patience and encouragement.
The next time I needed his help was to write me a letter of recommendation for AAF’s Most Promising Minority award. Although I will never know the contents of the letter or whether it even helped me get the award, I am still grateful that he wrote that letter for me. No matter what, it probably said good things about me that I don’t think I even am.
Prof. Goodman, who would have known that you’ll be gone so soon? I was still thinking that some day we would meet again maybe in Japan or even USA so I can say the thank you and goodbye I never said in person when I graduated. However, I believe that you left with no regrets for you knew your students had learnt well and they would go out into the world to do great things.
Lastly, thank you and goodbye. I will miss you.
After a few hours of tweaking the code, I’m finally satisfied with how my blog looks…or so I think. I decided to switch to a free theme because I realized I was missing out on all the functions of WordPress with that self-made theme which lasted for a long time already. I guess I will find time some day to make a new layout which is widget-ready. Lots to learn, lots to do.
Today I learnt that spanking new phones with all the bells and whistles were not made for tech dinosaurs like my parents. It works out for my dad because he’s contented with just a simple phone that has call and text functions. However, for tech dinosaurs like my mum who wants the latest technology, it’s a whole different story.
Last May, my phone plan was up for re-contracting so I got her the Samsung Galaxy Spica — an Android phone. I think I was more excited than she was and in my mind I was thinking of all the wonderful things the phone could do. But, I failed to consider one thing. Yes, the phone can do “wonders,” but I never considered the needs of a tech dinosaur. The first problem came up when I called home a few months later and asked her about the phone. She said she was still using her old phone because she didn’t really know how to use the new one. *smack to forehead*
Well, now that I’m home for good, we decided to explore the new phone together. She told me that her contacts from her SIM card could be ported over, but not all the numbers were transferred. Say she saved two numbers under one name. Only the first number got ported over. To make things worse, I discovered that the contacts weren’t transferred straight away — as in put in SIM card, on the phone, and there, all your contacts are there. No, with this phone, you needed to click an option to import the contacts. Fine. The problem came when you did this step more than once. It created copies of the same number under each contact. When I wanted to delete all contacts to save the hassle of having to edit each contact one by one to remove the duplicated numbers, it didn’t have that option! So what now? Do I have to edit each contact for 200+ contacts?
Now, we wouldn’t have this problem if we just stuck to doing things the phone was made for in the first place. The phone is designed not to have that delete all function because you’re supposed to sync your contacts with your gmail contacts. Hey, it’s an Android phone. So duplicates will be removed easily via gmail. But hello, the needs of tech dinosaurs like my parents are different. They do not trust having sensitive information like telephone numbers stored on the computer, let alone the internet.
So now, I have to scour the internet for information on how to delete all contacts without having to hard reset the damn phone. Next, I’ll have to look for an app that allows contacts to be saved into the SIM card because the phone doesn’t have that option. It was made to store all contacts online remember?
Next time you want to get a phone for a tech dinosaur, remember that his/her needs are different from yours.
I can’t believe it. First we got Carl’s Jr., then we got Quiznos, now there’s even Church’s Chicken?! But it doesn’t even beat the taste of KFC! So how come so many USA food chains are opening in Singapore?!
I was flipping through today’s edition of TODAY and saw this…
Yes, it’s called Texas Chicken in Singapore. I saw the logo and was like “hey! I know this logo!” Hurhur…
No, this blog is not dead yet. At least it was for a long long while. I have since graduated with a B.S. in Advertising with honors (proud of that!) I’ve completed my graduation trip to L.A, Hawai’i, Macau, China, and HK. I’ve packed a little of my room and stuff. And now…I’m officially unemployed.
I’ve finally come to the point where I can no longer be that irresponsible little kid. It’s time to really step into the “adult world” where I earn my own keep. I can no longer give the excuse that I want to study so I can escape having to face the responsibilities of “adult life.” Well, that’s unless I wish to follow in the footsteps of my professor who proudly declares that he has managed to stay in school all his life. To be honest, grad school is an option but not for now. I’m not ready for that yet.
Stepping into the “adult world” also means that I have to consider my future. The boy and I have decided to look for an apartment. Housing in Singapore is VERY expensive and we have come to the conclusion that both of us will need to work in order to finance that. Yea well, life’s like that. *sigh*
So, how does it feel like coming home for good after 4 years of living in ‘lil ol’ Chambana? Weird. Have to readjust to the population, the weather, the habits of people… Heck, I even have to readjust to sharing my life at home with 3 other family members. Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s just that I have changed. I’m more assertive towards what I want in my life and my future. These are changes that my family members will need to get used to.
Still got a list of things to do. Need to get crackin’ and stop procrastinating.
Last week, I travelled to New York for AAF Most Promising Minority 2011. It was a 3-day award ceremony + professional seminars + recruitment fair. While many would say that they received valuable lessons about the advertising industry. I would say that this trip was one of self-discovery.
On the last day of the program, a top executive from Leo Burnett asked us “what is one thing you learned during your time here?” Students who stood up to answer the question mainly referred it back to the industry or the friends they made. As usual, I didn’t have the guts to stand up and answer the question, but I gathered all the courage I had to approach him after the panel discussion.
In my mind, I was wondering whether it was the right thing to do — revealing my weakness to a potential employer, but somehow I knew I had to do it. Besides, he seemed like a really nice person…a genuine person. I told him that my answer to his question was simply how I discovered that I could overcome my fear and talk to people. Being an introvert, I fear presentations and feel rather uncomfortable in social situations with a lot of unfamiliar people.
In fact, I did A LOT of talking during the 3 days, especially during the recruitment fair. Usually I would navigate a career fair, picking up lots of flyers, but not talking much to anyone. However, on this occasion, I told myself I had to do it now or never. I couldn’t possibly keep going on like this forever. Some time in my professional life, I would need to talk to people, face clients, give presentations, etc.
During the award ceremony, each of us had to go up on stage to receive our award and then announce to a room full of people (which included top executives from the industry) our 15-word tagline. While many other students had profound, philosophical taglines, mine was well…the simple truth. I feared going up on stage to say my line. I was shaking inside, but I conquered my fear and delivered my tagline well. So well that many students later recalled that I was the girl who loved research.
How did I do it? How did I find the courage to overcome my fear? I simply put skills I learnt in the Emotional Intelligence class to good use. Instead of engaging in negative thoughts, I told myself that I could do it, that I had rehearsed and prepared myself.
Anyway, back to the executive from Leo Burnett. If I had the choice of employer, he would be someone I would really want to work for. He was really nice, patiently listening to what I had to say then encouraging and sharing with me that his son is also an introvert who overcame his fears too. Later, I learnt from Steve (our advisor) that during their dinner together, he mentioned that he was impressed by my honesty. No, I wasn’t out to be a boot-licker. All I wanted was to let him know how I felt. Really, that was all. Nevertheless, I was glad to know that he thought well of me.
There are many people you meet in your life who make an impact and whom you will never forget. He is one person. There are more from this one week in New York. I cannot thank them enough for giving me a few minutes of their time…giving me the opportunity to show who I really am and for believing that I am good enough and I can make it.
And if you’re curious what my tagline is: “(I’m a) future advertising researcher who loves crunching numbers to build the best campaigns out there.”
“[some mumbo jumbo] la cinco peso!”
After hearing so many street vendors yelling that on the streets of Mexico City, it’s stuck in my head now.
Things I learned so far in/about Mexico:
By the way, can someone tell me why the Aztecs/Mayans/ancient people like to have friggin’ steep steps to their temples/dwellings? I almost died climbing up and down the Piramide del Sol at Teotihuacan. Miss a step and it’s goodbye to you…happy rolling down the stairs to your death.