Saturday, September 6 2008. The day before Gene's Birthday.
Gene was an hour late picking me up to go to the club for a swim and I was grumpy, but it's hard to stay mad at him.
At the club, we bumped into his parents and had lunch together at the clubhouse. And I think I might have found my second best replacement to Dragon City's Sze Chuan Hot & Sour Soup! YAY!!! So anyway, after lunch was swim time! I had my favorite ring on when I jumped into the pool first. I then took it off and asked him to keep it for me since he wasn't in the pool yet. So he did and joined me in the pool. And after a while we left.
We headed off to change the size of the Motocross boots I got him for his birthday. I suddenly remembered about my ring. I asked him for it and he said that he left it on the pool side table! And he thought I took it cuz he checked the table before we left and it was empty. =( I got kinda upset again cuz I loved that ring and I knew I couldn't get another one like it again. Oh well... =(
Then after changing his boots we headed for dinner at Pete's Place at the Hyatt. As we passed by the jewellry shop just outside, I reminded him that he now owes me a ring!! =P Dinner at Pete's Place was lovely and we had a great time.
Ok, so the day wasn't over yet and he decided to show me where he goes trail riding on his bike at some ulu place in Punggol. It was a pretty nice place, a WWII memorial site, or something like that, comprising of a jetty and a small beach. It had been a rainy day and it was drizzling lightly, adding to a nice romantic feel. Or maybe it was the many cars using it as a make out spot. -_-'' Because it was crowded, we drove to a more ulu spot but with the occasional car driving by. It was pretty late by this time, about 11pm. It was kind of a funny situation but after talking abit, some about me never finding my ring again (yea, I was still kinda sad), we decided to go take a walk.
Saturday: Gene and I went to the Henderson Waves along the Southern Ridges for a much needed walk. We initially planned to start off earlier but only got there at almost 6pm. Which wasn't such a bad thing because by that time it wasn't so hot and humid anymore.
The view from way up was scenic and the orange glow from setting sun made it all the more beautiful. Lower the temperature down about 10 degrees and you'd never believe this was Singapore.
We decided to sit and chill in the middle of the bridge and we couldn't have chosen a better spot. While talking, I noticed something in the corner of my vision. I looked and it was the helicopters taking the Singapore flags to the National Day parade rehearsal. There were 3 Chinooks carrying the Singapore flag and 2 accompanying Apaches. They flew pretty close, not very far above the Henderson Waves and their flight paths were directly over where we were sitting. Very awesome!
We also decided to stay for the fireworks. We chose what we thought was a good spot on the bridge (We spotted the Swissotel and the UOB building and figured the huge space in between would be where the fireworks were) and sat down to chill and chat. Turns out lots of people stayed to watch the fireworks too.
So 8pm (there abouts, I can't remember the exact time) came and we heard the boom of the firsts fireworks. We turned to see and guess what? The fireworks were blocked right smack in the middle by a building. Whooptidoo. There were alot of disappointed people on that bridge that night.
We decided to leave since we couldn't see anything. We decided to head to T3 for dinner because I wanted to have Teppenyaki! I was told a while ago (by Squirt) that the Sakae Teppenyaki was really good. And I have been wanted to try it ever since. I haven't because 1. The outlet in Orchard Cineleisure always has a queue 2. Gene refuses to queue 3. We seldom head to town
And since T3 has one.... Well there was still a damn queue. At 8.45pm. But since there was only 3 people infront of us, I begged Gene to wait. Hahaha. Well the food was really good! Thanks Squirt! Ok I'm tired of typing further.
The first week was very discouraging and I really felt that they wouldn't offer me a permanent position. The past week however has been the total opposite. I really felt very happy because I was able to come up with stuff that the really team liked and today, I was given a hint that they might employ me on a permanent basis. I'm really glad cuz I've been enjoying what I've been doing so far and the agency and the staff are really nice. I don't really mind working late so much.
Thank you for all your prayers! I really appreciate it. =)
The meeting ends at 8pm. Then, "Rachel, can you write 50 captions of 25 words or more on why or how you enjoy 'product x', and hand it in to me tomorrow morning." *dies* ('Product x' is a client of my agency and is running a contest now which is managed by my agency.)
I have to write 50 captions, FIFTY CAPTIONS, all 25 words or more, all about the same product because stupid Singaporeans don't know how to follow basic instructions even if it involves winning a prize. The rules of participating clearly states that you have to write a caption about how you enjoy that product etc. But I guess most Singaporeans are either a) stupid b) lazy c) uncreative. I think it's all of the above.
So I have to clean up peoples leftovers all because "product x' company needs the numbers for their contest.
Oy vay.
But I did it! With the help of my wonderful boyfriend who is capable of crapping a lot hence helping me come up with quite a few. xP
This is so much harder than I thought. I didn't think I would have to try so hard. I knew what I was getting into but it doesn't really hit you until you actually start.
The language comes easy for me. But it kinda stops there. I'm used to descriptive writing. Writing to tell a story. Copywriting on the other hand is all about selling and I've never sold anything in my life. I don't know how to be persuasive, nor do I know what makes people tick because I just really don't give a damn. That, is bad. I think my best sales line would be, "Buy la. Please." Hahahahahaha
Ooookay...
So I need help and some major guidance. Now I've been thrown in the deep-end and I'm struggling. My copy is too wordy and lacks personality, and I'm taking too long to churn it out. I'm too shy and I don't speak up. I seriously doubt if I am any help at all. I hope the designers aren't frustrated.
I don't know how long or short my stint here is gonna be, but I have decided not to give up. I'm gonna try my best and learn as much as I can. I am enjoying myself and I do like proof reading. A job that pays me to correct people's English! Yay!
I'm just frustrated now because I wanna be good, and I wanna get a permanent position. But, baby steps....
I'm having a great time here. Shopping alot (not enough though), eating alot. I think I gained all back all the weight I lost. Haha. Oh well. I've only got a few days left. Noooo..... And I still haven't really got me Krispy Kreme's. *complains* There wasn't a store in San Fran and the store in Phoenix closed down! *complains again* I only got some from a deli that was selling them in San Fran. Bugger.
Anyway, it's nice and cool here. I love the weather but Phoenix is too hot. San Fran was much nicer.
I see Miss Koh is back from down under. I will see you soon!!! Deb, when you called that day I was still asleep.
I miss my guild. I'm kinda surprised at how sad I am that it's gone. I had been thinking of leaving and now I don't have to. Seeing as how I'll be away for 2 weeks soon, this couldn't have come at a better time. :/
I will be away in December for a few weeks for a holiday and to visit my relatives in the States. This is very vague I know but if Ms Deborah Koh wants to know when I'll be away then she has to divulge her return date with me. Hehehehehe
My birthday was on Friday and on Saturday, Gene and I went to Pasir Ris park because I wanted to see the horses there. I LOVE HORSES!!!! And this little one is so cute! It has a very silly looking haircut too. Hehe
Seeing as I'm now all grown up, I couldn't resist playing in the huge playground there. Haha. What fun!
Oooo... Funny story! At the end of this slide, I FELL. I dunno what happened but I lost my balance and I landed very awkwardly in the sand. *pouts* So many people saw that fall, DAMMIT. I heard one mother nearby say, "jie jie fall down." Ugghhh..... I had sand all over my butt and legs. Bleah......
I loved this when I was a kid, so I just had to climb up again, though this time I was hanging on for my dear life, trying to make sure I didn't slip and fall. AND I DIDN'T.
You can stop laughing now. -_-
And for dinner, Gene took me to Shaslik!! The Borsch soup was so delicious!!! But the mostest fantasticus dish of the night was the dessert!!! We ordered a Baked Alaska and the waitress flambéed it before serving it to us. Whee... It was so so good. I wanna have it again. :D
Then at the very end of the day, he gave me my present! :D
A PSP-Slim! How cool is that! I can't believe he actually bought me a PSP!!!! YAY!!!
Thank you to all who wished me a Happy Birthday! I love all of you and I did have a great one. :)
If you have been to the National Library lately, you would have noticed that they have a board where they allow library goers to stick notes on why they love their library. There were some cute ones, some funny ones and the usual boring ones that said, "because I love to read!".
What are we doing today to celebrate? Nothing, because he has some stupid talk to attend in the morning and I have youth service in the evening. But, I celebrated his birthday yesterday.
We kicked off the celebration with him coming over for lunch. We decided to cook as he wanted to try something he watched on some cooking show on the Discovery Travel and Living channel. So for the first time in his life, he was over the stove cooking something other than Maggie mee. I think we did pretty well for a first time attempt. Then I surprised him with a chocolate cake that I baked specially for him. I spent most of my Wednesday making it. He was very very happy, and we had a slice for dessert.
Then we went to his place for a little RnR and ended up sleeping for about 2 hours. But not before I gave him a little surprise.*cheeky grin* He's a big pig. Hehe.... I happened to wake and casually checked the time, "!!!! It's 4.45pm already!" I prodded him awake and I washed up a bit then we left for Bugis Junction. I was taking him to dinner at the Olive Tree at Hotel Inter-Continental where I treated him to the buffet dinner. The food was fantabulous as expected and I had a whale of a time eating the fresh prawns and mussels. I only had one gripe. Their pumpkin soup. It tasted exactly like Horlicks. I kid you not. It was so strange drinking it. The best part of the dinner was, if you guess the dessert table, you were absolutely right. Besides the usual fair of cakes, panna cottas and fruits, you could ask for a crepe with a selected filling of your choice (we went for the banana and caramel, which was oh so heavenly), or a chocolate lava cake (which tasted as fantastic as it smelled) made on the spot for you.
Needless to say by the end of the evening, we were stuffed.
He says this is one of his best birthdays ever. *beams*
Yesterday I asked Gene to accompany me to the Army Open House. I wanted to ride in the tanks, do some live firing and do the flying-fox and rappelling activities. Although he didn't want to go, he was so sweet and agreed to take me.
We got there at about 11.30am and there was already a ton of people. Our first stop was the main area near the entrance which they called "Hardware Land". *rolls eyes* There we saw the new leopard tank, the Chinook and Apache helicopters. We were allowed to walk through the Chinook and as we were walking through, a boy some places behind us started remarking, "So smelly, so smelly..." Cuz it did kinda stink a little and in retort, his sister went, "So smelly, so smelly. Next time your army how?" Hahaha
Also, Gene showed me which tanks he works with and explained to me what he does. Yeah... I hope there's never a war. So anyway, I got really hungry because I didn't eat much for breakfast so we headed over to "Yummy Land" *rolls eyes again* to get something to eat. I didn't bother to queue for the army rations sampling so we headed to the muslim food stall to buy food. As we sat down to eat, Gene said that he couldn't believe I made him come back during his holidays to eat army food. =P
Then as we finished eating, it started to rain. DAMN IT. And it rain and it rain and it rain and didn't stop raining. So I didn't get to do anything I wanted to do because of the extremely long queues and the cancellation of the many outdoor activities. Though I did get to fire the SAR 21 assault rifle in an indoor combat simulation. But it wasn't fun! *pouts* It was just a kneel, aim and shoot thing. Though they did teach us how to reload the rifle.
Then to get out of the rain, we went to an indoor exhibition of the whole army experience. At a mock up of an army bunk, a young boy was posing for a picture with some army gear on. As his dad was taking the photo, his mom said, "See, next time you have to fold your own blanket. So you better start now." Hahaha.... Poor kid. And also in the exhibition, was the CB leaf. Haha. Gene picked it up and showed me exactly why it was called that.
Overall, it was not a very good day. There were too many kids, too much queuing and of course the rain had to ruin it all.
Gene said that if I was so interested to do all the shooting and riding in tanks and stuff, I should sign-on. Then I could do all that as many times as I liked.
On Saturday, Gene and I brought Kate to the Botanic Gardens. Kate was so happy. She loves to go out with me and loves to be taken on car rides. We picnicked at a nice shady spot under some palm trees on the grassy knoll by the stage. Kate had a nice time smelling everything and running around when we played "fetch" with a fruit of the palm tree which had fallen with a loud thud just by our little picnic mat. Fortunately it didn't land on any of our heads.
Today was our day out at Comex. He bought a laptop for his mom and I bought a wireless card for my..... erm... I mean his laptop. Well, I am using it now, so let's call it mine. ;P I can now surf the internet in the comfort of my room!! Yay!
