For you I will

This past week at work, I'm glad to have fought some tough battles with valour and escaped relatively unscathed. It's an unspoken fact among all that the going will only get tougher with each passing day, and the heat is coming on fast. Despite having all the odds against us, Le Boss never fails to find means and ways to boasts the entire team's morale, be it lunch treats out of his own pocket or little words of motivation - it all means a lot to a junior management staff like me. While it is inevitable for some of the support staff to be at odds with each other for whatever reason, I learnt that it is the management team that sets the attitude right for them to emulate.

I'm breathing a little easier now that my sis is helming the planning of my solemnisation ceremony and doing most of the liaising with the vendors and the MUA. I've thought it through and rationalised that this wouldn't be the time to splurge on a costly made-to-measure or branded gown, given the tight timeline and our budget. Instead, a huge part of the cost will go to the setup, right down to the minute details. I'm hoping to sit down with the florist to firm up plans within the next month, so that we'll be able to draw up a clearer budget sheet for the event, and hopefully be able to free up a small portion for a bridal shower. Who knows?

And it's only you who can tear down these walls of animosity I build up with your teddybear-hugs and and little laughbites throughout the week. To listen to my ranting and is actually able to fully empathise with me, to pick me up after my dance classes for a short dinner date, to send me random IMs throughout the day to sober me up from my regular mid-work stupors, to take me into your arms during those cold nights and shield me from the dark.... I'm willing to bite the bullet for all this with you.

2012

It has been a truly beautiful year. One year ago, I subjected myself to the laborious chore of condensing 2011 into a blurb of 500 words. I don't think 500 words will suffice this time round.

Warrior at work

As a student, I yearned to step out of my readings and into the workforce. A year on, I've broken free of the pneumatic cycle of mugging and projects and accumulated fresh battle scars from this strange world I never got to know within the safe haven of a lecture hall. I am truly lucky to be flanked with fellow warriors in my line who have fought more than enough battles to nudge me through when I get into a tight corner.

I have been asked the same question over countless conversations: why didn't you pick a job with more relevance to your degree? After crafting and editing my lines from talking to so many people, the standard answer is, "I like to apply the skills I learn in the course of my study instead of living straight off the book". Most often than not, I would receive weird furrows of eyebrows and exclamations, questioning the link between what they perceive I do at the office everyday and what they perceive I study. But again, if only people truly understood what my job encompasses, perhaps they would be a tad nicer to us. One can dream, can't I?

"Yes I do."

I don't mean to misread anyone, but there are people of my age who crave no-strings-attached, non-committing relationships. This is my first relationship, one I pored over for several weeks before making the decision to delve into something entirely strange yet exciting. From school and now into the working world, we're both changed, matured and learnt to grow with each other as a permanent feature in our lives. There was no doubt that I would say yes when you got down on one knee; there's an endless stream of memories that I'm waiting to create with you in this lifetime. Yes, I do.

The love abode

And this is just the beginning. I've dreamt for so long about the day I'll move into my new home with my loved one and build everything within from scratch. The wallpaper, the lighting, the furniture, the utensils, the cutlery... Most importantly, our very own love abode. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll be able to get it next year, so that the renovation works will be completed by the time we're ready to move in.


Graduation

Apparently I enjoy getting things done in reverse order. Found work, bought flat, got engaged, GRADUATED. The lapse between my last school day and graduation has diluted the excitement, but it was a great day to play catch up with my fellow CNM alumni. Been there, done it.

Into October

This could have easily become my favourite film of the year, if it hadn't been for the unforgivable twist towards the end.

Savages was chiselled off the recent spat of brutal killings by the Mexican drug cartel, yet unrealistically set in picturesque Laguna Beach. As if the gory scenes weren't traumatising enough, Director Oilver Stone injected the amorous threesome comprising beach bunny Ophelia (Blake Lively) and her two lovers, Iraq war hero Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and philanthropic Ben (Aaron Johnson). Ben and Chon are best friends in college, and also co-own a weed plant. When they turn down an invitation from the Mexican drug lords to start a joint venture, Ophelia's life naturally became the bargaining chip. The kidnapping of Ophelia set the duo on a wild goose chase to track down her whereabouts before embarking on their runaway plan.

You must be laughing at the absurdity of it all; two hot-blooded men risking their lives and businesses to save the woman they share between themselves. How many men in the world are willing to share the love of their life with someone else? "These two men must love each other more than they love you. Otherwise, why would they share you?" The sting of these words has made it my all-time favourite slap-in-the-face movie line. As in life, how do you know if the love you thought was yours didn't entirely belong to you after all?


October heralded a wave of opportunities disguised in the form of challenges waiting for me to rein them in. Amongst them, a photography assignment for a company event!

I've really got Le Fiancé to thank for this opportunity (he was Le Organiser of the event); it brought me closer to fellow colleagues and important decision makers, and gave me the chance to practise my rusty photog skills with challenging lighting conditions and overzealous participants. Thank you for striking another Bucket List item off. :)

In the meanwhile, plans for our trip is falling nicely in place with the booking of hotels and airfares. There's simply too much we wish to do and too many places we want to visit, which 12 days definitely won't suffice. Now it's down to planning routes by the day and shortlisting the perfect lens to buy for the trip.

Cherry on top

An unpaid advertisement for Twelve Cupcakes - because their Chocolate Mint spoke louder than the supposedly good Red Velvet. Yummy visually and gastronomically, but punishing to the waistline.

As I end my third week at work in a new environment, it's only human that I start to evaluate my choice to transfer to the ground. Unlike "up there", as they all call unanimously, my new office is bustling with energetic young managers earnest to learn and perform together as a team, as well as well-weathered seniors to keep us from veering off-course. The support staff are a fun bunch to be around, especially when they call us their "xiao hai zi" (little kids). I'm still starry-eyed and getting used to the fact that there's staff reporting to me, and not me reporting to everyone else. A senior raised a challenge to me while chatting on the bus ride home today, by betting a meal on the duration I'll last in this race. "Let's wait and see," I retorted. And I'm bent on claiming that treat.

Happier

One month ago, I took matters into my own hands when the Director asked to speak to me. It had been a casual chat, but my agenda was clear. I decided that I've had enough of trolling around a cold and segregated work environment where everyone's just minding their own business and watching their own backs. So I told her that I was ready for the massive shift whenever there's a vacancy ready for me.

One month on, I've settled into an all-new work environment, with new names and faces to commit to memory, countless new work processes to pick up and master, and a vibrant buzz around the office to get used to. After watching how policies are being worked out under the pedestal, it's high time I put this knowledge into good use to help those who really need it and penalize those who err despite being in the know. I'm happier now, I'm sure.

Dark Shadows aside...

Several hits and misses this week, but I'm glad I'm over and done with it. The process of picking up skills for my new portfolios is good pain, but the struggle to build management skills is... gosh. It's slightly disheartening that some peers are looking to greener pastures out there, I'm optimistic of the opportunities open to me here. The spontaneity of things keeps me wide awake and obliged to be in the know, and sends the adrenaline coursing through every inch of me.

Anyway, have I told you how Johnny Depp seduced the hell out of cinema-goers?

The year was 1752. After rejecting the love of the sorceress Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), Barnabas Collins was turned into a vampire and buried alive. It wasn't until two centuries later that, upon being dug up from his grave, that it dawned upon him that Angelique has replaced the Collins as the dominant company in the cannery industry at the fishing port of Collinsport. In his attempt to settle into the modernity of his descendants and rebuild the Collins' business, he faces up against against Angelique in a love-hate relationship. The only reason to watch this movie... is if you're suckers for Johnny Depp in yet another eccentric persona. I've never had a thing for Tim Burton films, and even more so after watching Dark Shadows. It doesn't matter how many Burton films have given Depp his Academy Awards; you can't weld a stellar cast together with a bad script and expect sparks to fly. Eva Green, Michelle Pfiffer and Depp himself lent nothing more than their names and their futile attempt to work this film. You can't fault Michelin chefs for bad dishes if they begin with the wrong ingredients. I think I've never given a worse review to a supposedly performing cast. 2/5

Twice the love

It's been 3 days since I lost half my voice. It was reduced to less than an inaudible murmur during the JobsConnect event today, when I spent hours explaining stuff to candidates; I would find myself talking in goldfish mode halfway through the conversation because my voice just decided to die on me, and I had to resort to coughing (bad practice) to kick-start my voice box. PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME OR ANYWHERE ELSE. Unless you have been on a concoction of trusty TCM products (courtesy of Jack's mummy. :) ) and various herbal tea mixes by the folks at home. I have 2 families who love me so much, it's almost like I don't deserve any of this at all.

Work has been... ok I shall cliffhang everyone here. Julie needs to recuperate and prepare for the long battle in office tomorrow.