Day 2 in Phuket: Being an Interviewer for the First Time (Part 1)

Shall resume blogging about my Phuket trip!

Day 2, we got straight down to work as we had 2 interviews lined up for the day. And both are located in different beaches. (that's how our money depleted so quickly).

Having our complimentary breakfast in the morning:

Surin Bay Inn makes sure that every table has a flower deco on the table. A very sweet gesture and the choice of the flowers used helps to brighten up the day.

.

Us at breakfast

After breakfast, OFF WE GO! in a fiery red tuktuk. apparently the local taxi drivers and tuktuk drivers there have a monopoly. they're called the MAFIA. heard a few cases in the past where they would stop public buses on the road and point guns at the driver in order to stop public transport from snatching their business. luckily we're tourists so obviously even if such things happened, we wont be hurt because hurting us = no business = no money! 

The fiery red tuktuks! Don't we all look like we're some businesswoman.

Our first stop was the Kamala School, a school ran by Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation (http://www.phukethasbeengoodtous.org/) to provide quality English education to the local children, especially after the 2004 tsunami. 

We reached the school!

this is the sea view seen from the school gate. awesome right! imagine stepping out of school and having the sea greet you everyday.

the informal commerce food stalls right outside the school gate

the sea of motorbikes. due to the lack of public transport, the locals use private transport (ie. bikes / cars). even young kids have their own scooters or motorbikes to travel around. and its very obvious that they have no licence.

1. the name board of the school

2. the plaque when the school first opened. The school is under the King's Foundation. 

3. the school compound

4. the basketball court, located beside the guys' dorms

5. their classrooms

They were having a celebration for Children's Day then. Children's Day is a very important festival in Thailand because they believe strongly that children are the future and hence, should be treated with importance. For Kamala School, there was a funfair: 

there was even a boxing ring where the 2 kids are blindfolded and then start to box each other, if they managed to hit each other that is. its quite a comical sight. there was performances and all different booths of different games for the kids to play.

we took a picture with the Bunny from Andara Resorts who had a booth at the funfair

After which we heard that there was a temple nearby so we decided to visit and explore abit. 

the main Buddha where we paid our respects

look at the paintings on the wall!

and then we got lucky bracelets from the temple after receiving the monk's blessing. which we wore every single day! and i have to say, the bracelets seem to work. because for the remaining days there, we kept meeting nice people who were very helpful and friendly to us. in addition, some would give us valuable information for our FYP such as telling us who and who to contact etc =) 

lunch! 

the pineapple rice was super big!

one of their specialty

the noodles which i had

our next stop was BangTao Beach Chalet, a small boutique resort that is very nature based and loving. i lost some of the photos taken when we were given a tour of the rooms. what i remembered most clearly was the swans (the size of a laptop) made and folded from towels alone. aahhh, lost the photos =( 

alright, realised 1 day is pretty long. shall continue next time!

***************************************************************************************

results were out. and i have to say, though my semester gpa has been improving every semester, the degree of improvement is not enough. i expected 1 grade higher than what i got. for all my modules. and considering the fact that my gpa is split into 2 degrees, means that the effect of every sem's gpa on my cgpa is even smaller. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER. i don't understand why its not. getting a bit demoralised. at the rate im going, there's no way i can jump an Honours class, especially when there are lesser and lesser modules to clear. 

Went for INSTEP information session yesterday and oh wells, financial constraints is really a big issue. would be looking for jobs these few days i guess.

Farewell to Taurus, but deep down, im still one!

I'm sure many of us have heard about the new horoscopes 2011, where a new horoscope sign was added -

Ophiuchus.

Apparently there is a shift in the Earth's rotational axis caused by the moon's gravitational pull. And this in turn caused a one-month bump in the star's alignment. Meaning, in super darn simple terms, the sky has shifted.

So this is Ophiuchus:

It is also known as Serpentarius, the Serpent Holder. One interesting fact is that unlike the other 12 signs, it is associated with an actual person.

Some traits of this horoscope:

• Many people are envious of this subject as he progresses well throughout life.
• A seeker of wisdom and knowledge
• Many people are jealous of this person
• Tends to go for the more flamboyant in dress sense, favouring bright colours.
• Authority looks upon him well.
• Would make a great architect or builder.
• Number 12 is this persons lucky number.
• This person will have a big family but leave home at an early age.

Read more: Ophiuchus - The 13th Sign of the Zodiac 2011

Can't say that many welcome this move, because we've come to love what or rather, who we are since we were born. Under the old horoscope sign, I'm a Taurus. who is characterised by stubborness and being dull and unwelcoming to change at times. But under the new sign, I'm an Aries, which is characterised by being very varied and always welcome changes. Its not me at all. But I guess no matter which horoscope we belong to, our personality is there and there to stay.

Here's to check if your horoscope has changed:

Capricorn: Jan. 20 – Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 – March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20

Smartie Pants Evonne

Oh my my my!

After 5 years of having a blog on Blogger, i finally know how to change my template! =)
though i have to admit its not because i'm zai or i finally figured out how to do the html thingy,
but its because i made use of Blogger's new function Template Designer!
its soooo idiot-proof that a NOOB like me knows how to use,
and can have so much fun playing with it! =)

YAYYY!

Leaving for Phuket! Day 1

As some of you may know, I went to Phuket recently to do my dear FYP. Although it sounds nice and damn cool, it turned out to be like a business trip and well, we didn't have much time for R&R. though we did covered many beaches (and spent a bomb on transport) and went to many places. anyone needs info for Phuket? come find us! we'll damn good at it now. LOL.

shall update with pictures!

us being 50% excited and 50% sian when leaving Changi Airport! 

 this is the meal i had while waiting for our flight. 

a small Udon set that costs SGD $7! 

but i have to say, the Udon tastes rather nice and its e first time that i eat Udon without getting sick of the taste!  

all that is needed for the flight! 

Jetstar 3K537

Apparently Jetsta's Jetsaver Light allows a maximum of 10 kg for hand carry luggage instead of the usual and norm of 7kg! Relieve for us because our laptops took up like almost half of that weight. 

AND OFF WE GO!!

paying our respects accordingly at Phuket International Airport! 

Because we stayed 6 nights instead of the usual 2 nights at the hotel (called Surin Bay Inn), free airport transfer to and from the airport was given! so when we walked out of the airport, there was a man holding the sign 'TEOH MINGWEI' waiting to receive us. we felt like celebrities! 

oh and this thing about Phuket is, the cars there (even those used for taxis and for chauffering guests around) are rather big and luxurious. Honda, Toyato, Lexus even! 0.o we felt so pampered like we're some mega rich people being chauffered around haha! 

and here's our accommodation: SURIN BAY INN 
(http://www.surinbayinn.com/)
Surin Bay Inn
106/11 Surin Beach,Thalang, Phuket 83110,Thailand
Tel.: + 66 76 271601, + 66 76 621626
Fax: + 66 76 271599, + 66 76 621627

Its opened by a couple, an angmoh and his Thai wife. It emits those kind of small, cosy, family feel kinda inn because you get to interact with the owners, the staff, and even some of the other guests they have there. and these people sort of became friends after 2 days. An additional plus point is that they are REALLY REALLY friendly and helpful! =)





Soooo, due to certain restrictions, we only booked a Deluxe Twin Double Room, though we had 3 people.
So when checking in, the receptionist realised there's 3 of us and they're fully booked for the entire period of our stay, so its not possible for us to change room type. Luckily the owner of the inn, Bill, was there and he was really nice and helpful. I think we looked pretty desperate as we said we don't mind squeezing into that room, and he just asked us to take a look first before we make any decisions.

 This was how the twin deluxe room is supposed to be.

and i think because we were staying for 6 nights, which is pretty long, Bill actually got the staff to help us shift the furniture of the room around. ON TOP OF THAT, they even sweep the floor and cleared all the dust that is visible at the corners of the room because of the shift on furniture. Mega touched, and that's our first night in Phuket! we experienced the warm hospitality of the people. One of the staff even dirtied her black pants while helping us (half the length of the pants became white from the dust)! And yet they're ever so friendly and told us its okay when we kept apologising.

and TADAH! this is how it looked like. 

they shifted the 2 beds together for us. 

other amenities in the room

I have to say the toilet is rather big, and the shower head is strong. 

SHIOK! 

and the closet is damn cute! 

the light lights up when you open the door, and shuts off when you close the closet door TIGHT.

so after settling down into our house for the next 6 days, we walked out to visit 7-Eleven and did some stocking up of the necessities:

 

 this is how their 7-Eleven looks like. 

small, but well-stocked.

and definitely our favourite, cause its so familiar! 

we've never had so much fun shopping at 7-11 before. LOL. 

and this is our loot for the night! 

(Note the cup noodles, unhealthy snacks, and the iSPY wine) 

we didn't finish up the mineral water and coffee in the end though. 

and we gave the staff 1 of the iSPY wine. 

and so after settling down everything, we started to get to work!

the mess during our project discussion / meeting. 

oh yea i forgot to mention, the inn even provide guests with travel adaptor!

we got 2 from them =) 

us happily in our room!

and that's our first day (or rather, night, in Phuket!)

Five Regrets of the Dying By Bronnie Ware Platinum Quality Author

Five Regrets of the Dying By Bronnie Ware Platinum Quality Author

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.


People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learned never to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventuallyacceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.
When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:




1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.
We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friendsuntil their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.
It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip.  But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content.  When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

i'm scared.

it hurts.
it hurts so badly. 
it hurts so freaking much that i doubt u'll understand.


i could really use a wish right now.
if only the star would work and has real powers.

did u take it?
or, did u treasure it?
it hurts. 

its time to start afresh.

the one who can, doesn't want to.
the one who wants, very sadly, cannot.
can i have a hybrid of e two?
most preferably, wants and can.

i think im just not fated to have it.

why cant things be simple. 
i forgot that the simplest things are often, or always, the hardest to achieve.

it does get unbearable sometimes.

perhaps love

Perhaps Love - John Denver

Perhaps love is like a resting place, a shelter from the storm. It exists to give you comfort, it is there to keep you warm. And in those times of trouble, when you are most alone. The memory of love will bring you home.

Perhaps love is like a window, perhaps an open door. It invites you to come closer, it wants to show you more. And even if you lose yourself and don’t know what to do. The memory of love will see you through.

Oh love to some is like a cloud, to some as strong as steel. For some a way of living, for some a way to feel. And some say love is holding on and some say letting go. And some say love is everything, some say they don’t know.

Perhaps love is like the ocean, full of conflict, full of pain. Like a fire when it’s cold outside, thunder when it rains. If I should live forever, and all my dreams come true. My memories of love will be of you.

And some say love is holding on and some say letting go. And some say love is everything, some say they don’t know.

Perhaps love is like the ocean, full of conflict, full of pain. Like a fire when it’s cold outside, thunder when it rains. If I should live forever, and all my dreams come true. My memories of love will be of you.

assuming we are x distance apart
if you take a small step forward
and i take a small step forward
and we just continue to take small steps forward,
will we meet some day?

sometimes it weighs on so hard i can't breathe.
need to stop thinking.

evonne feels like giving up
just not cut out for anything

school is starting... tml
feel so unprepared n unready
really need to stay focused!

a stroke of inspiration

its not the money

its not the car.

neither is it the face, the body, 

or the age.

its about the time spent together

and the way you make me feel. 

Form may be cool,

but eventually substance rules.

如果我變成回憶

如果我變成回憶

been looking through some of the pics taken while in Laos

i miss the village

i miss the simple and peaceful life 

i miss the serenity of the mountains 

i miss the kids' heartful laughter

i miss seeing the children run around happily on our court

i miss Shu-Five, i wonder how she is doing, 

does she still remember me? 

would she remember me? 

its only been 11 days since we've been back

which works out to around 1.5 weeks 

and im already polluted with the city illness

i forgot to be simple

i forgot to be appreciative 

i got caught up in the city lifestyle, once again 

i got greedy 

:( 

if i ever turned into a memory,

let the memories be happy ones,

so that when they got let out occasionally one day, 

i hope it brings a smile to your face

:)

off to laos!

off to Laos in another 2 more hrs.
haven't been blogging recently, or rather,
since exams ended.

need to find time to write abt
my 21st birthday,
working at SAe,
the event itself etc.

before i leave,
i wish upon a wishing star, 

that e trip would go well,
everyone would enjoy themselves,
and OVE'10 would be fun and memorable!



and when im back,
i can start slacking, resting,
and hope things can go the way i hope they would be!
=)

im so bored.
there's nothing much to do at work here.
everyone's so busy at work,
only im like having nth much to do.
don't feel like fulfilling certain obligations of mine also
been feeling so ultra sian.
feel like taking a break but cannot.
50% break
50% work.
equals to no break.
lost interest in xxx, xxx, xxx
everything that i used to be so passionate and enthusiastic about.

updated 21st wish list!

what i want for my 21st bdae:

- MONEY (angbaos hahahahhaha!)
- a leather backpack
- Charles and Keith shoes (there's this pair that i really really like but then i cant find e picture of it online!)
- a pair of Havainnas slippers
- cashcard (so that i can just print notes and photocopy without worrying about having insufficient cash)
- a 3-in-1 printer? so that i can just print my reports n notes at home comfortably and i need not rush to print them in FAL
- a nice nice demure and cool ladies watch?
- a package for manicure? im lazy!! hahaha
- err some nice corporate dresses that i can wear for work, presentations, and out?
- this nice nice bag: (http://missypixie.livejournal.com/76023.html#cutid1) called TING. not sure if its too big for me though
- or, simply any bag that looks nice and small, but actually can put alot of things inside =P 
- IKEA shopping vouchers (feel like revamping my room)
- a cap 
- a cordless (house) phone
- this soft toy from a shop in ION ORCHARD (its located between kikki stationery and havainnas, cant rem the name! but the soft toy-cum-cushion got distorted eyes where the eyeballs is 1 up n 1 down >.< )
- improvement in my gpa
- CAR
- sponsorship for manual driving lessons

gone....

horrendous.
utterly horrendous.
my last presentation was so horrendous that its beyond redemption.
i can barely stand to look at my own video.
cringing all e time omfg.
i had no idea how e class and Prof Ho sat through those 5 min.
everything single thing that could be wrong i did it.
unprepared.
rushed.
last minute.
unrehearsed.
every possible negative aspect
u name it, i got it.
worked so hard to maintain everything.
only to screw up the very last task on the very last day.
blardy disappointed with myself.
i can do better than this even if its an impromptu.
instead of improving on my usual standards,
it dropped exponentially until i don't know where.
i think it went so deep down,
that even the iceland volcano took it for lava and spew it out in digust.
what more to say when i spent 1 day preparing for it.
everyone else was so well rehearsed and prepared.
and being late definitely did not help.

i think i must have been the worst presenter in ab214 final presentation history. 

i survived through 1 meeting, 2 reports deadline, and 1 test the week before.
having 1 quiz, 2 reports deadline, and 3 presentations within a span of 3 days is no excuse for the lack of preparation.
you know you could have done better.
How is it possible that a prepared presentation is so much much worst than an impromptu presentation?!!  
all previous efforts were to nault. 
there goes my grade. 
there goes my double degree.