1/31/2005 11:02:00 AM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|My boyfriend, that is. We always cuddle whenever he arrives after a five-hour (sometimes longer) bus trip from Singapore. We share a few kisses, talk a little bit about work, share a few more kisses, talk about our day...and well, we mostly kiss and cuddle. ^_~ Nothing like cuddling with a loved one just before you go to sleep. Anyways, he informed me that he has just found out that morning that his contract would be renewed again for another six months and thus will be in Singapore for another 1.5 years. Now, one thing must be understood - we have often put off discussing about the future because of the 'age' of our relationship - young and still growing (not that it isn't anymore). And Nil has always been the type who goes "we'll tackle it when he comes". So the fact that here he was beside me, ruminating hard on alternatives was enough to send me into shock for a few minutes. Our issue is this: I don't really know much French and I would like to work (so would he - want me to work that is). And in France, without French, you're pretty much a goner. Learning French is already in the books for me...but it won't make things easier for me. Nil was worried that it might prove to be more than difficult for me to get a job in France and thus was thinking of how to go about things. Should we migrate to another country? No Singapore and M'sia for him and neither for me - forever that is. We had earlier in our relationship settled for Canada - Montreal/Quebec - to be exact - because of its French influence. On my part, I settled for learning to speak French with Alliance France (be it M'sia or Singapore). On his part, it would be the possibility of leaving for another country until I'm more proficient in his mother tongue...and marriage. Yes. Marriage. If you were to tease Nil as I sometimes would about getting married, he would go "No...too soon." But this weekend, part of him - I suspected - saw marriage as a very viable option. His facial expression wasn't one tainted with that teasing smile or sparkling eyes but more serious, mellowed and much consideration painted onto it. I saw it in his eyes before he drowned me out with kisses...loving, passionate ones. Nevertheless, he took humour in my frustrations of deciding what to do...he took opportunities to cuddle up and be more affectionate than usually. And I couldn't help but feel more loved than ever. I couldn't help but feel that perhaps this could be The One for me. I couldn't help but feel amazed. |W|P|110714133903480238|W|P|He never fails to amaze me.|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com1/28/2005 10:09:00 AM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|...Singapore here I come. Yes, they want me to go down on Feb 4. I'll try to see (tomorrow) if there are bus tickets going down on Feb 3 night (even though it's bro's birthday) and come back up on Feb 4 night. Hopefully it'll be peachy but I'm kinda sceptical considering the date is EXTREMELY close to Chinese New Year. Hoping their side will be good enough to understand that I can only leave at the end of May/early June because of my contract. Breaking it is unethical and totally not me. So we'll see. If they are interested, they'll be willing to wait. If not, I still have my job AND promotion here. ^__________________^ |W|P|110687834233295977|W|P|Second round...|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com1/26/2005 11:34:00 AM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|Mumsgather mentioned something in relation to my previous post about how making kueh kapit was slowly becoming a dying art. My mum firmly believed in learning the ways of her mum - ways of going around the kitchen - hence she picked up a few 'old' recipes from her mother and my grandmother. Kueh kapit (aka loveletters), ham yoke chong, pineapple tarts, masak titik (a hot spicy soup made with onions, peppercorns and prawns plus kangkung) and a few other old-school dishes. Mum loves cooking as well. So she indulges in Amy Beh recipes, Nyonya kuihs and even some local delicacies like muruku, nga ku and rendang/curry.

As a teen back then, it was my duty to assist her in the kitchen. These duties became a daily affair and in some cases, a yearly one. People seem to talk a lot about making kueh kapit, especially when Chinese New Year comes around. A good tasting tin full of these crispy, easily breakable fragrant 'biscuits' would cost one approximately anywhere between RM17-RM24 - depending on the quality. These days I find the ones on sale are either too hard (too much rice flour), not fragrant enough (too little eggs) and too thick (too many layers poured onto the batter and not enough coconut milk). So why kueh kapit more than others? Because it is extremely time-consuming. Making the batter is easy. It is the actual production of the stuff that is hard. When I initially started - me and mum practice what we call apprentice-ship when it comes to making less common dishes like kueh kapit and ham yoke chong - I was the one folding this hot little things. Pre-production apprentice-ship would see me doing all the manual labour such as throwing the egg shells, beating the mixture, carrying the pots up to pour the batter into the shieve...stuff like that. But the folding was the one that hurts the most...at least it was then. I learnt from experience to move quickly, to fold darker sides inside, to hide blemishes, to grow long nails to help with the folding AND how to endure sitting for long hours on the floor (cushions always help!).

Seven years after I started, I went up in front of the fire. Started off with four moulds and gradually went on to do seven with Mum handling a good nine of them. And it is a backbreaking process, not to mention injury prone and sickness prone. Amply supply of herbal tea is a must and care must be taken because it's not nice getting burnt/branded with one of those kiips (the name of the moulds in Cantonese). I have a tiny sliver on my knee to show for it this year. First time too. ~_~ Also growing nails is a must if you want to avoid burning your fingertips trying to peel those darn things off the kiip. Now just some stats about kueh kapit and why no one wants to do it these days... A kati of kueh kapit batter takes about four to six hours to finish, depending on how many moulds a person is using. Yes. It's often done SITTING. All cans have to be lined with paper and the box where we do all the folding has to be lined with paper as well - all done the night before. Charcoal must be brought with ample supply at hand - you don't want to run out of it halfway. The fire must not be too hot and the 'cookies' will come out really dark and burnt. Horrible tasting too. If the fire is too gentle, it'll take you forever to finish. The kiips can be purchased at your ever-friendly night market. I even learnt how to choose them. Patterns must be carved in deep or else your kueh kapits up looking really flat. One must know to care for them too. No washing with soap. Only water and plenty of oil rubbed into it to avoid rusting. This year is Mum's last year. She's going to 'retire' from doing this and if I want to eat any next year, it'll be me and I have to find someone to help me. NG and my parents were involved this year. My brother and sis-in-law stayed away. Brother coz he was busy and my sis-in-law? She just isn't interested in this kind of thing. I asked Mum once...many years ago... "Who else makes this in our family?" Her answer disappointed me...it worried me. "Only us, I think. The rest know but don't want to do it coz it's just too much time. On your level, your cousins don't know. Don't want to learn. So how to make?"

To think...this will die with me should my children become disinterested. What then will they have to show for who they are - Malaysian Chinese? Bear in mind, kueh kapit is unique to the Chinese in this region. I don't think Mainland Chinese or HK Chinese make this during Chinese New Year. It makes us who we are...and yet those of us who have the knowledge grow more and more disappointed at our own people. Why? Because no one wants the knowledge. No one wants to learn. The art is dying and worse, whatever that is left of it is becoming more commercialized. So much so that no one really remembers what REAL kueh kapit tastes like. Hell, some people don't even know what it is until I mention the word 'loveletters'. It is during these times that I wish we were back in our little villages...womenfolk gossiping and building relationships over a hot fire, cooking kiips and folding these little cookies made from a simple batter of coconut milk, rice flour, flour, eggs and sugar. ps: Bigger and more pictures are available here.|W|P|110671268587599555|W|P|What about the future?|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com1/24/2005 02:13:00 PM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|...Since I last blogged about anything. Gack. A few things have happened - some good, some not-so-good, but I doubt those really matter at the end of the day. Anyway, here are the updates that really matter... Work Upon returning from Singapore, I was promptly sat down and thrown with an offer to become Program Leader for my department. My job would be to assist the Head of Department with administrative tasks (timetables, exams, student results, etc - stuff that I have been doing anyway - as well as staff issues) as well as to continue on teaching. I was more than happy to take up the job for the moment, since I have yet to hear from the Singapore side on my interview. At first I was a bit skeptical about confirming it, hence my unwillingness to even share it online. It has been nearly two weeks now and with no sign of even a squeak from Singapore, I decided it was best to tell myself that I'm promoted. Once all the paperwork is done, I'm looking at being Program Leader beginning end of January with a pay adjustment, an allowance and less teaching hours - as promised by my dean this morning. How much of an adjustment or allowance, I will have no idea. In a way, this step-up is good for me as 1) I don't want to teach all my life and 2) I have yet to decide if I really want to do my PhD or not. Chinese New Year Spent the past weekend gearing up towards Chinese New Year and that means making CNY goodies like kueh kapit, nga ku, and an assortment of cookies. NG was lovely enough to sacrifice a three-day weekend, which he would normally use to go somewhere, to assist me with making kueh kapit - all 1.2 kg of it. Took us about six hours in total and as a treat (as well as to celebrate my promotion), I took him for a meal of sushi and a movie. We watched Elektra on Saturday afternoon after making kueh kapit and paying off my plastic bill; it wasn't exactly great neither was it really bad. But the cold air was a definite welcome. The nights have been superbly hot...and frankly I would have killed for a bout of winter to come crashing by. Gosh, whatever happened to those rainy days aye? Shopping In the event of me receiving my bonus (or shall I be frank and say that I will get it end of this month?), I went all out and bought books from acmabooks.com - must say one thing though; they have greatttttt customer service. Got a 23% discount because I used my Maybank account to pay for them - it was either that or use my plastic but I figured that a direct debit would be better. Awaiting my mangas - am glad I didn't wait to get to Kino because when I finally did on Saturday, they didn't have the mangas I wanted - to be delivered to the office. AND I bought two pairs of shoes for work - one brown suede muley-looking thing and the other a beige strappy low heeled pair. Didn't have long to browse around because NG was with me and he absolutely hates shopping. Talk about making speedy decisions. -.- All in all, a good few days, I suppose. Will try to put up pictures of my kueh kapit making days. If not, I hope to have more time to pen in a few entries before the weekend comes again. ^____^ |W|P|110654925783296425|W|P|It's been far too long...|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com1/19/2005 01:43:00 PM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|HELP! HELP! HELP!!!!!!!! I've been asked to write an editorial piece for Doctorjob on careers in TV broadcasting (am adding a little twist to it) - and while I majored in it during my days in university and still keep in touch with the industry, I wanted some 'real' perspectives from people who work in the field. It's part of the research that I'm doing for the paper. So if you have a job in TV broadcasting - cameraman, producer, sound guy, director, scriptwriter, reporter, etc OR know someone, please help me out! NOTE: I am desperate. Need this by Thursday. First draft has to be out by Friday.

Your position (ie scriptwriter, producer, writer...etc)
What are usually the best bits of the job? The worst/challenging bits?
What are career prospects like for the said position in M'sia, Asia and other parts of the world?
Do you actually see a demand for this position in the future?
How much can you earn as 1) a fresh graduate and 2) with a few years experience?
What are the different positions awaiting you should you be considered for promotion?
If you were an employer in TV broadcasting, what sort of person are you looking for when you are hiring someone?
Other comments about this career line?

Please email me at meiteoh[at]gmail.com with your answers...and if you have anything else to add to this. The finished piece will be placed up on this blog! Many thanks in advance! |W|P|110611398049529267|W|P|EMERGENCY: Need help!!!!|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com1/18/2005 06:42:00 PM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|When you lose your passport... ...everything becomes a blur. You hyperventilate. You forget about whatever money you had. You forget about everything else that was with your passport. Your identity. Who you are. Gone. And you find yourself lost...a person with no identity surrounded by people who are secure in the knowledge that they belong politically to their land. What do you do? Where do you go? Who do you see? First things first...DO. NOT. PANIC. It will get you nowhere. Also, having a friend/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend around helps the situation a little - at a stressing time like this, you need someone you can count on for moral support. Someone who knew that you belonged politically to a land. Someone whom you can trust. Someone who can lend a helping hand. Trace your steps from the time of the discovery of the loss to the actual time. If it happened in a restaurent, shopping centre or somewhere with a security or management, inform them. Make a report. Give them your friend's number to contact just in case some kind soul finds your passport. After that, immediately go to the nearest police station and make a police report. Write down everything you know. Even if it is the tiniest detail. All of that matters, especially while it is still fresh. Panicking sometimes erases important bits - like your passport number, time you lost it and the events leading up to the actual loss. Don't forget to get the police to give you a photocopy of the report, just for emergency purposes. Note: Keep a scanned copy of your passport and MyKad online. It *will* come in handy when you lose your passport because Immigration Department of the country in which you are in and your embassy will require some form of photographic proof that you are a citizen of a country. Also don't put your money, photocopies and credit cards or ATMs together with your passport (and vice-versa) because if you lose one, you lose everything else, which means more work. Some police stations in certain countries will issue the report in a sealed envelope to be taken to the Immigration Department. Others will hand it over just like that. Whatever it is, follow their instructions - they know better. After you are done, call up your embassy. For Malaysians, if there is no Malaysian embassy or High Commission, go to the British embassy or High Commission for assistance. Under Commonwealth, they are to help us - btw, it is written in the back page of your M'sian passport. You'll probably have to fill in a couple of forms and get an emergency certificate (EC) (it's like a passport but only good for one week). After that, go to the Immigration Department to get a special pass and get your EC certified. Be prepared to spend at least ONE day doing all this. Email people - work or family - to inform them that you will be back later. Make copies of everything - for work (if you are applying emergency leave) and to apply a new passport. BUT having said all that, prevention is better than cure. Don't carry your passport everywhere. Be alert. Be smart. This is regarding your identity. Your national safekeeping in a foriegn land. Without it, you are nobody. ps: Some kind soul returned my passport to the police who in returned dropped it off at the High Commission of Malaysia in Singapore. They contacted me and thus, returned it to me safe sound. I left everything else at home - credit cards, MyKad - and thus was only concerned about my passport. I didn't lose much money except for the $22 for the emergency certificate but this was an invaluable experience and lesson. I hope it will be for you. pps: Unbelieveable. Me. Lose a passport. Then again, anything is possible. ppps: Btw, the interview went GREAT. Spoke to her for nearly an hour and came away hoping and dying for them to call me back there again, even though there is this little matter about notification of resignation. We'll see how it goes. *keeps her fingers crossed* |W|P|110604588780766375|W|P|The ultimate worst of the worst...|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com1/12/2005 10:00:00 PM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|It's strange. Barely into the new year and I'm running out of things to say, things to announce, things to share with the readers of this blog, this literary abode of mine.

Is something amiss? All my thoughts, my emotions and the words running through my mind - I just cannot seem to put them onto this place. I'm staring at the screen and wondering what is the real point in bearing out my heart and soul where it doesn't really seem to matter, when sometimes what I say here gets me in hot soup more than in reality and when it just seems insignificant to me. Am I coming to a point where I am beginning to be more selective in who I want to vent to? ...or am I just bottling things up? Someone once told me that when a blogger rarely blog, in a way, it is good news. The person is busy living life - perhaps happily - since he deduced that blogs seemed to flourish when a person is unhappy with something, himself or someone else or something...as long as it was a complaint, an observation, a grouse. Is it true? Honestly, I can't seem to think of any other reason as to why I can't blog about the job interview in-depth or certain stuff I've facing with NG or even certain observations and revelations apart from "I don't know what to say?". I need time to think. Maybe it's the stress from the preparation of lectures, or the impending possibility of having to resign middle of the semester, or the fact that five top-level management staff have quit their posts...

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. *goes to tear hair out* ps: Have left small thumbnail sized pictures of various spots during Thai vacation for reader's pleasure. Enjoy pictures from entire trip here. WARNING: There are 160 of them in the album. |W|P|110554051114533987|W|P|Wind-down?|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com1/11/2005 01:41:00 PM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|...except for the punctual. Perhaps this, sir, is the motto which you could consider for your airline instead of the current one which you are now using. Below is the letter that I hope to send off to the director of Air Asia, IF, I can obtain his contact from his website instead of a bundle of snailmail addresses and telephone numbers which I KNOW won't bloody well help at all. For a good picture of the beginning and end of my holiday to Thailand, read on. ... Dear Sir, I am writing in hopes that you will do something about the kind of service you are putting out to your customers and the kind of reputation that you are building for your company and ultimately yourself (as a figurehead/spokesperson for this airline). Throughout the last three months, I have flown with your organization for three times with friends. Flight details are as follows:

KUL-HDY (11th November 2004) for three onboard flight 862
SG - BKK (29th December 2004) for two onboard flight 5019
BKK - SG (8th January 2004) for two onboard flight 885

None of them ever left their scheduled departure date on time. Reasons given ranged from "I don't know" to "No planes available". Maybe I should go into detail. The first flight was delayed for nearly two hours. Instead of arriving in Hatyai at 2:15 local time, we arrived two hours later. By the time we exited the airport, it was nearly 4:15pm. Luckily for myself and my friends, we were on time for our bus ride to Krabi scheduled at 4:45pm. If the aircraft was any later, would you be responsible for messing up our travel schedule, putting us at risk of missing out on a hotel room and perhaps wasting precious travel time lingering around in an airport terminal doing NOTHING? WHEN I could be going around doing things I would normally do on a perfectly normal holiday? Your flight attendants and ground crew were also inept and untrained to handle crowds, allowing people to push their way through another door during boarding, leaving families with children and elderly people to board the plane much later. Your ground crew spent much of their time herding people by yelling at the top of their voices instead of using a hailer or speaker. How professional. I watched - while waiting for my already late flight - at least three women miss their flights to Jakarta because you had TWO gates display the SAME departure/boarding details. A crowd waited outside the gate to board for nearly 45 minutes while the departure lounge was empty. Many with children were standing, some were squatting along the hallway leading to other gates. What impression are you trying to give to foreign tourists? First class airport, third class mentality? Why keep a departure lounge which is enclosed with comfortable seats empty? The second flight to Bangkok was delayed nearly for two hours. I have spent nearly six hours travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. My friend has spent the entire day at work. We are both tired people, looking forward to unwinding after a mayhap two hour flight in a nice comfortable hotel room. We arrived at the airport early to check in. We went through immigration, we boarded the train to get to our gate and what do we find? The plane has been delayed. Wait. The flight, I mean, because according to your ground crew - there was no plane in sight - and there was a delay at the Thai Airport - I assume they are talking about Don Muang Airport in Bangkok. No more explanations. Just that there is no plane. By the time I arrived and checked into my hotel in Bangkok, it was 3am. And I was schedule to BE IN BANGKOK around midnight. The third flight to Kuala Lumpur was delayed for SIX HOURS. SIX LONG HOURS OF DOING NOTHING IN THE DEPARTURE LOUNGE. The worst was that your ground crew at the airport in Bangkok did not even have the deceny to inform us about the delay. Flight 885 was scheduled to leave Bangkok at 8:20pm and thus, me and my friend made our way to the airport at 6pm thinking that we would have ample time to check in, go through immigration and relax before boarding. We arrived at the check-in counter only to be informed that the flight was leaving at midnight and that I would be arriving in KLIA at 2am the next day. When I asked your ground crew, I was told that there was a problem at the KLIA Airport and no more. For four hours, me and my friend waited, sat around like dumb fools in the airport until we were informed (by those display boards) to go to Gate 34. So we went. There was no one from Air Asia around at the boarding gate then. About an hour later, as my friend was walking up and down aimlessly, he noticed that the information stated that the flight was delayed again. This time to 2am departure. By the time, it was already close to midnight. About half hour later, two of your girls start strolling towards the boarding gate. When the passengers of the flight (mind you, there were at least a good thirty people waiting to board this flight) approached them for explanations, we got a range of excuses that basically included an explanation of what just happened (the sequence of delays - as if we are dumb and just walked into the airport) and a series of "there is something wrong with the KL airport". One girl even told us that the reason why they couldn't get any information was because your crew over in KL weren't devulging any information. Another told us that there was an airshow at KLIA. Come on. Airshows are normally held during the day and at Subang airport. Do the passengers of 885 look like we were born yesterday? To your ground crew, obviously. To which we take offense. Only after many of our complaints did your crew there bother showing up with coffee and tea (which were cold according to my friend) and bottles of water. No blankets for the elderly who were freezing cold waiting and trying to rest. No temporary hotel room for those of us who were tired out. No nothing but the noisy cold departure lounge and the uncomfortable chairs. One passenger - American and going to KL for a holiday - remarked about how he wasted money paying for a hotel room in KL which he wasn't going to sleep in. Another passenger was upset because he had relatives already sitting and waiting at KLIA. One lady mentioned how unhappy she was at the possibility of missing her transit flight. Many were upset at the having wasted time at the airport DOING NOTHING when they could have been out around Bangkok for at least another four good hours. Me and my friend? We had just spent 48 hours travelling non-stop - by bus, then by train and now awaiting our flight. The last time we slept on anything that looked like a bed was on the 7th of January. We are tired people. My father had waited at the airport in KL since 11pm. Because of this delay, me and my friend (plus my father) reached home at 6pm and wasted the entire Sunday morning catching up on sleep. And all because there was an airshow in KLIA. Hm. I understand that it is not easy to run an airline. I understand that freakish things happen. But it doesn't snow in Malaysia; there are no hurricanes and I have never heard of an airshow going on way after 6pm in KLIA. If your organization does not have enough planes to cope with the traffic load, why schedule a flight in the original time slot in the first place? Honestly, if there isn't a plane available, why not come clean and admit it outright? And don't your ground crew go through some sort of training about transparency on both parties with regards to communication between people at the Thai airport and KL airport. If they do, excuses like "KL airport people ain't telling us anything" SHOULD NOT be said at all. What really pissed the passengers off was the nonchalant attitude displayed by your ground crew and the wishy-washy excuses given in thought that it would pacify us. We are not children. We are grown adults who paid for something and expect that payment to be of value and that value to be met in return. For your information, cheaper, more affordable flights does NOT MEAN you cut back on the essentials of a flight - PUNCTUALITY and ACCOUNTABILITY. Even a 5baht 3rd-class train ride to the airport (that's fifty Malaysian cents to you) is on time. So why can't your RM70-RM300 flight from Bangkok to KLIA be punctual? I have travelled on budget airlines before - Virgin Blue, Australia provided me with excellant service throughout the five times I travelled with them and I have yet to hear complaints of this degree from people I know who use the airline to travel around Australia. I have heard of stories of state-run airlines that were bad - I won't name names but I'm sure you have some inkling being in the industry and all. I have heard of delays due to bad weather, debris on the runway, technical glitches...I have heard honest explainations. BUT I have never came across a flight which was delayed six hours because of an alleged airshow at the airport. What a laugh. Having said all that, may I make a suggestion? Your motto/tagline/tagphrase is not quite accurate and reflective of your company image. Now everyone can fly except the punctual. Perhaps this is what you should use. It's more accurate than the current one. Sincerely, Mabel Teoh & Nil Grousson ps: As much as I like the "warn them through SMS", do you honestly think it matters when I'm abroad and have no international roaming on my phone? And the time you sent it - 8pm - don't you think I'd be at the airport then for my original 8:20pm flight? [UPDATE] Thanks to SM, I sent this 'note' to Tony Fernandez and a couple of other people including my parents, Jeff Ooi and NG as of 2:14pm today albeit some spelling errors. ~_~ Lets see if I get any news about this. |W|P|110542121911076513|W|P|Now everyone can fly...|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com1/10/2005 01:43:00 PM|W|P|Mabel|W|P|...and laden with bits of news here and there. The trip was excellent! Plenty of fun, laughter, tears of joy, not to mention new experiences - both with meeting people and just being in a different country with the one I love. It was definitely a good ten days of sun, chilly weather (up North is cold in Thailand, y'know) and food! Yes, food was good. Am tempted to go back again just because it's cheaper to fly to Chiangmai if I wanted Aussie chilly springs and autumns. The list of things done?

Long-neck village - Karen Long Neck Village
Visited and climbed through some pretty rugged waterfall terrain at one of the national parks - I really need NG's Lonely Planet now!
Cycled through the city of Chiangmai and took pictures of wats all day...
Braved Bangkok's heat and crowded streets on foot
Travelled for nearly 300km on a rented motorbike throughout Mae Hong Son
Watch the sunset on the highest submit in a little sleepy town
Travelled on a Thai ordinary bus (gack - what an experience that was)...
Travelled on a Thai 3rd class train ride that costs 5 Baht
Spent a good part of the holiday sampling different Thai dishes (Northern and Central)
Went bonkers on handmade Thai scarves at the market
Had a great time with boyfriend

^_________^ Am working on putting up a gallery online for my photographs (both for this trip and the previous others in Australia and other parts of Thailand). I totally utilized NG's Canon Powershot A75 to take the snappies for this trip. *evil laugh* If anything, I'm now more nutty about getting a GOOD digicam of my own. On the side, I have just received word that I'm wanted down in Singapore for an informal interview. Just wondering what exactly does informal mean but never mind. Have applied for leave and even purchased the train tickets to make the trip down. Am looking very forward to meeting these people and to the possibility of new prospectives for my academia career. Meanwhile, at the office, I am catching up with work and preparing for this semester's lectures - just found out that I'm taking FOUR units each...together with a multitude of paperwork. Gack. Now for news about bonus, adjustment (if there is one) and increment...I am so wondering when it will all be out. Then again... All in all, a good start to the New Year, don't you think? |W|P|110533652536547027|W|P|Home again...|W|P|meiteoh@gmail.com