Simple day
Tidied my table tdy and watched "Good Luck!" vcds, the show is much better than I tot and Takuya is really very suave heehee.
Met up with yiqian, yeong chai, jinbao & lawrence in the evening. Jinbao was late, and he missed his stop, so we waited half an hr for him....intended to go nydc for dinner but queue was very long...so ended up at crystal jade. Tis is the 1st time I felt that e svc there is good, haha maybe they kana complaints b4.
Yiqian arrived at 2125, had her class till 2100...went coffee club express to drink kopi, was nice to meet up w em agn though it's only for 2-3 hours :) Felt very full and awake now, oh no...must be due to the caffeine.
Learning period
Had my first malay lesson yesterday, was surprised that e class consists quite a no. of pple in the twenties, haha initially tot e language was not really popular among this age group. The teacher taught at a relatively fast pace, was having difficulty keeping up e pace at times. Luckily, there will always be some pple who will voice out whenever the teacher forgot to explain to us what a particular sentence means.
Met Lena & Eileen for lunch tdy, actually just watched em eat cos' had a heavy bfast (nasi lemak) at 10plus. Realized Lawrence did tried to sell em insurance as well haiz...that time met him for lunch and he tried to hard-sell insurance to me too, was feeling very uncomfortable actually, everytime when I diverted e topic he will keep bringing back to e topic. Don thk will wanna meet him alone agn for lunch or whatsoever, phobia...
Bought yummy yogurt b4 meeting yeong chai at Suntec. Like me, he's idling now too, in fact he's starting work only on 13 May...really a very long break for him. Sat at a cafe (forgot e name) opposite Marina's Hans, managed to get the sofa seats heehee. Talked alot of stuff, was amazed to know he started buying shares since e age of 21, wow...at tat age I'm still trying to grasp e concept of finance lor. Anyway I just finished reading "rich dad, poor dad"...haha surprise ya cos I seldom read books one, those who noe me well shld noe. Started reading the book last week whenever I'm free and was "hooked" cos' e book provided me with another perspective, e ans to e qn which has been popping up in my mind at times.
Told him intending to get a savings plan b4 my bdae cos' it will be like cheaper. But apparently it's not, and he confirmed it with his friend who is an insurance agent. For savings plan, there will not be much diff if you buy it now/next few yrs, there's only a diff when you buy after 30 yrs old...which means I still can compare the various savings plans available in e mkt. Btw this friend of his is actually someone he has taken a liking to for at least a yr, haha..but she's always so busy so no time to meet him though they live quite near to each other. So this yeong chai asked whether need him to intro her to me regarding e savings plan, one way can help her clinch another sales, secondly he can get to meet her and thirdly he finds that e after-sales svc she provides is much better. Well, told him ok since meetg her can provide me with another option, no obligation to buy fr her and can facilitate em to meet haha.
Has been zzz at 11 plus since last mon and waking up at 9 plus in e morning, hee e feeling is great, can make up for my lack of zzz since I started working...can zzz better too, cos' no stress fr work :) Btw I found a great online story, have time go read, it's very touching...cried after reading e whole thing...it's at http://www.i-believe-you.com/
Eventful Day
Supposed to get up at 7.30am tdy to help my mama to prepare the food to bring for the old folks...but tot I will wake up by this time so didn't set my alarm, ooops turned out it's already 9am by the time I woke up :p haiz must be the late nights for the past 2 days.
Went bt batok to buy fruits, collect kueh and roast pork b4 setting off to Queenstown. Usual meal for the old folks consists of only 2 dishes, that's y my mum cooked a huge pot of vegetables, fried luncheon meat and bought a watermelon to let em have a better meal. Kueh and roast pork were given free by the stall owners who do not have the time to visit em. It's really heart-warming to know there are pple who care for the less fortunate.
After lunch at holland v, I went for my pre-employment check-up at Raffles place. Lunch time not much pple so took me only an hr plus to complete my check-up. After that proceeded to RHB bank to return the "code of conduct" booklet to my ex-boss. Checked my a/c and realised pay not yet credited so called the HR and HR came down with a chqe after knowing I'm at the bank (actually they wanted to post the chqe to me instead). Housman saw me and accompanied me to bank in my chqe, we chatted while waiting for the rain to stop (cos I didn't bring an umbrella). He's a nice chap, ang moh pai one, can be gao3 siao4 at times. Insisted I have a cup of coffee even though I told him no need...and lent me newsppr to pass time. He seemed troubled just now, asked him what's wrong and he didn't want to say...in fact this is the 2nd time I saw that something is bothering him. He's the kinda guy who will help others when they need help, but when it comes to his own pblms he will keep it to himself and suffer alone...felt helpless, dunno what I shld do...haiz...
Also saw other colleagues just now and as usual the feeling remains warm and friendly, so happily left the bank...wondering when will be the next time I see em again/ rather when will I wanna see em agn (since the bank is only less than 5 mins walk from my new workplace). No doubt I've been there for only 1 mth but true friendship has already been established.
Mama suggested bringing my maid to Sentosa tml since her contract ending soon, but I told her just went there in Dec, don feel like going there agn...so not sure what's my itinerary tml...
Fulfilling Day
Yesterday was my last day at RHB...actually supposed to give 2 weeks' notice but the bank sd no need, gave reasons like I'm still new, payday coming this wed, e 2 weeks' notice most likely I will be in a holi mood etc...so they asked me whether can make yesterday my last day. Of course I sd yes right...can't possibly reject em, haiz this bank is worse than I tot...dun wanna accept my 2 weeks' notice yet not willing to pay me the 2 weeks' pay...however on e other hand, this shows that I had made the right decision to leave the bank.
Felt sianz yesterday cos' told UOB starting on 9 May, which means I have got 3 weeks' break, too much time all of a sudden. Darling is busy w his studies and assignments so no pt flying to australia to disturb him, my mum just came bk fr Europe so don thk she wants to go for another trip again...but anyway I don have much $ left to travel now too...short trip maybe can lah but where and with who??? So I sms HR tdy to ask em whether prefer me to start work earlier since I'm available, and they sd ok, so will start work on 3 May instead since I have not gone for my medical check-up yet and the results will only be out in 3-5 working days. Though have to work during my bdae if I start a week earlier, I don really mind now since I have 2 weeks' break from now...more than enough rest for me liao.
Woke up this morning feeling very shiok though, hee not within my expectation actually..but most prob cos tdy's my 1st "free" day. Then went for lunch at Thai Express with my mum, food there is really good...ordered green curry chicken, calamari, kang-kong and tom yam soup...yum yum. Next proceeded to IMM to buy some grocery cos' gonna visit old folks tml. It's been a long time since I did volunteer work, used to be very enthu, will search for opportunities to do volunteer work, now too lazy or lost the zest to volunteer.
Went for a stroll with mum in the evening and coincidentally saw my secondary fren with her bf...sd she's goin USA with her bf on 2 May and if her bf can find a job there, she will get married, and apply for the green card there too. Can't help wondering how come the pple around me lead such interesting lives, whereas my life is like the typical singaporean, really hope I get the opportunity to work ovs someday...hmmm...
A relaxing day
Went for e other half of the training tdy, one of the talks was to teach salespple how to sell, the speaker presented well, added some humour here and there which made the session so lively and interesting...his talk was so motivating that I feel like going into sales myself haha...
Training lasted till 1330, me and Sidia took our own sweet time to have lunch b4 heading back to e office..by the time we reached office, it was already 1500 :) cleared my pending cases, checked emails it's already 1730. Wanted to start on a new case and was asked to fold ltrs and slot into envelopes haiz...bo bian working in a small bank has to qing1 li4 qing1 wei2, no adminstrative stuff to help us...worked till 1930 and headed home. Usually, will feel wei3 qu1 if worked OT, but not tdy cos' I started work only at 1500 tdy, hee the feeling is great!
Meeting the HR fr uob on mon to ask her some qns regarding the job, remuneration etc. most likely will take up the offer although they offer me the same pay as rhb, since there's a 13th mth bonus and uob is more prestigious than rhb. By the way, heard fr Sidia tdy that Emily tendered tdy cos' she had a better offer liao, feel happy for her. But as she has to start her new job on mon, she has to give 2 weeks pay but Sidia said it's ok for Emily since both of em didn't do much for the past 2-3 weeks, have been slacking, drinking kopi, leave earlier as and when they like since they have no targets to meet and they can easily explained they have appts with clients outside...waah so shiok...
Gonna wake up early tml to go market since mama is away for holi in Europe...gd nite everyone :)
I feel much better
Went for product training course tdy at Katong, heehee no need to work and can come home earlier...tml still have another half-day training haha. Finally met Alvin and Gary whom I have been working with for the past 2 weeks or so and get to know Sidia and Emily better. By the way, the 4 of them are personal bankers (pb) and have been working with 3 of em except for Emily.
Found Sidia and Emily quite easy-going and helpful, Emily joined the bank around 1 week earlier than me and Sidia maybe 1-2 months earlier than me only...but heard fr em actually most of the pb there are less than 6 months cos' they were informed by rhb that e bank didn't have pb in the past!?!? (don really sound believable right?) Realised that besides me, many of the newcomers have been "conned" into the bank cos' most were not aware that our pay includes 2 months bonus already! But I thk my case worse than em cos'I most prob will be asked to do collections sooner or later like my predecessors-Irwin & Victor who used to do credit control at UOB and doing collections now at rhb on top of assessing loan applications! However, I felt really relieved that I'm not the only person who has been conned into coming here :P (was feeling really depressed ever since I came to noe abt it)
Rec'vd an offer from uob to do custody operations, supposed to give em a reply tml, if not early next week...still considering whether to take up the offer. They can AT MOST offer me the same pay, which have not even been confirmed by e mgt...but overall the pay will be higher cos' there's a 13-mth pay at uob. Secondly, not sure whether custody is the dept I wanna go into...have been wanting to go into treasury instead and after going thru a session of what treasury dept do at tdy's training has made me even more keen to go into treasury...haiz...but sadly there's no suitable vacancies now at rhb, they are looking for an experience person to head the futures dept.
If I'm intending to go overseas to further my studies, I will stay at RHB instead since it's just a few more months down the road...but still not yet decide whether to study...cos' if my bro is not going then most prob I don feel like goin too...haiz...
On the way home, Emily told me actually a few of em are on the lookout for other jobs too though they have been w e bank for barely few months...felt that e bank really shouldn't have "lie" to us abt our pay, now so many pple are intending to leave...haiz so disappointed...told Emily really regretted rejecting dbs offer and she comforted me saying still not too late, can still look for another much better job, and stressed not to put rhb experience in the resume else will look badly when future employers saw...kinda portray a job-hope image...even said she noes a few frens in other banks, can help me if I wanna get in...felt better after her encouragement...I seemed to see a ray of hope :)
Courses, courses, courses
Realized the blog I wrote last night went missing...haiz have to retype agn. Had a bad day at work on fri, was overwhelmed by the heavy work load, have to deal w uncooperative RMs daily, felt I'm underpaid, tot of have to start collections soon and do OT etc...seriously feel like quitting...didn't noe I will miss ctb so much...actually it's e $$$ and colleagues I miss, DEFINITELY NOT collections ar. Went for uob interview during lunch break for operations position which I have an interest in, really hope I get shortlisted for 2nd round of interview...but don dare to place so much hope in it else the greater disappointment.
Went out to an agency which deals with ovs studies w my mum and bro yest morn. My bro planning to go australia to pursue his degree since he didn't mgt to get into the local uni. He didn't wanna continue w his IT course and instead plan to go into psychology. The agent there is quite professional and experienced, asked my bro y particularly psychology, whether he's aware of what e profession is abt etc. cos according to her, psychology is a very difficult course to pursue, has to study 3 yrs then have to be INVITED to pursue honours and the places are very very limited. Even if he gets into honours, have to spend another 2-3 yrs taking up clinical psychology then another 1-3 yrs doing research and thesis, so it's a very expensive and time-consuming course. If didn't mgt to be invited for honours, cannot be considered a psychologist, can only be regarded as having a psychology degree.
My bro is still quite adamant in taking up psychology after what the agent told him, so the agent suggested he talks to psychologists or take up job with welfare homes etc to find out what they are doing so that he can decide for himself whether that's the career he wants to pursue. The agent suggested that my bro takes up 1 yr IT first to obtain an IT degree first and pursue psychology if he's still interested then. The agent even quoted a few cases of her ex-students/colleagues who tot of or oredi taken up psychology; some successful ones and some unsuccessful ones.
This agent is really very experienced and gave very good advice, feel like askg her abt postgraduate courses for myself but didn't ask her in the end cos' she has another appt. My mum encouraged me to further my studies if my bro did decide to go australia since at least we can look after each other and I can upgrade myself too. Actually, I'm considering too...if I didn't mgt to get the uob job...hmm most likely cos' I wanna escape from my current job and at the same time have my bro and darling for company so at least not so lonely.
Went to repair my fossil watch after that and was told the mechanism in it spoilt liao, may have to order fr America if there's no stock and will take 2-3 weeks...haiz...disappointed w the quality cos' the watch is bought fr aust by darling in Feb tis yr, so fast the mechanism spoilt liao. Anyway went to True Yoga which is just 1 level above the fossil svc centre, to find out more abt their yoga classes. Was impressed by the facilities and the flexibility of the courses they offered there, quite tempted to sign up for the package actually but the high course fees held me bk :( Thk I just stick to sports council/cc for my yoga ba, so much cheaper....
Saw that bt batok east cc is starting elementary class for conversational malay, went there just now wanting to register but the gal said the server is down and not sure whether there's any more vacancies/enough pple to start the class...left my no. with her and she sd will call me bk but it's been 2 hours, still no news fr her...
Feeling sianz now cos' goin bk to work tml, have to face all those irritating RMs and see the pile of cases on my desk...
