term 2 results

my results for term 2. thank you for my family who has been behind me all the while. very blessed with decent results. i promise i won't let you all down =)

i missed the ship

to my dismay.. i missed the ship. the january intake is full. although feb and mar intakes are still open, but i reckon it'll be taxing to do it concurrently with my studies.

never mind then..it taught me i ought to plan things ahead..it just didn't cross my mind earlier.

meantime, the money will be set aside till 3rd or 4th quarter 2009. as i'll be only taking on 1 module in the 2nd half of the year, it'll be wiser to do the course only then.

better late than never!

getting closer to what i where to be

For the past 1 week or so, I fervently searched for a pda phone over the internet. Upon receiving my hard earned bonus, I thought it was a good self reward for the year. i scoured the forums and ebays but found nothing within my budget of $300-$400. a brand new one would cost me $500+ which I was reluctant to part with.

Today, I found something I am more than willing to pay for and which I am certain is worth every cent paid for. Instead of spending the$500 on a handphone, which is more a want than a need, I am going to do the pre-admission course to ICPAS. As a pre-requisite to full membership with ICPAS, the 3 days course is a must, together with 3 years of relevant working experience and another test (or paper I reckon) on proficiency in local laws. As I’ve almost gotten 2 years of experience, doing the pre-ad course is timely. i’m aiming for the January intake, which will fall within my holidays..so I can do it without having to worry about my studies. =)

This is something that’ll add value to my career. A full ICPAS membership is prestige in the accounting line; my financial controller and finance director are both ICPAS members too.

Material wants can come another time. for me, I’m on the train to accelerate my career. I like pretty things, but once I hold a good job and earn a decent pay, pretty things will come easily within reach. =)

year end with no bang

Restlessness straddles me. 12 more working days to go and that calls an end for 2008. while I do look forward to the end of the year, the start of next year does not bring much to look forward to. I’ll still be in the same job, doing the same things and feeling flat-lined in growth. We’re all hoping things pick up in a year or two’s time.

Conversations with colleagues have been reduced to minimal these days. I have grown less trusting to those in the office as it’s better to stay quiet than reveal my unhappiness. Working earns me a wage so that I can meet daily expenses and fund studies. That’s all I ask for my job now – just to earn a decent living.

In the midst of pretty routine work, I look forward to spending the evenings with dearie..having meals with mummy on weekends.. training with runfanatics.. learning more things in school (albeit the hectic schedule at times)..going for races.. and just worming at home at times =) these are the things I give thanks for.

It’s the time of the year to sit down and make some resolutions for next year. With the top priority of completing my studies well, I yearn to find another job that’ll offer me more learning opportunities. This is crucial as I want to earn my full membership and become a full fledged accountant. Nonetheless, given a battered economy and its bleak outlook in the next 1-2 years, I can only shove the plan to move on into the storeroom for the moment.

scsm this sun

scsm is this sunday. yes, 2 more days away..i am feeling this impending fear crawling up my gut. gulps.

the only thing i have been excelling in so far is the carbo loading part of the race. haha..i've been eating. eating and eating non stop. i do hope that doesn't mean i'll be carrying extra load to run with.

i confess my mileage for the past few months has been pathetic. after finishing exams, it was already too late to catch up on the mileage.

gee. i just hope to complete. i know i will not hit anywhere near to last year's timing. my aim for the marathons so far is still to complete it within the 5 hours frame.

i have another 3 weeks after scsm to prepare for the ultra. i am not hoping much for it but i just want to do it.

next year will be a more hectic year of classes but i resolve to keep up with training. tuition will be cut to one or two days; just poa.

dearie's hamstring has been pretty tight recently. i can feel his spirit down too because of the lack in training.

we won't be at our peak but we promise once the gun goes, we will start running and will not stop till we hit the finishing line.

(how apt the photo! dearie's the lao beh beh in the photo while i'm the lao aunty..hahahaaa =P)

wedding bliss

The eventful wedding weekend zipped quickly passed. Upon the closure of one memorable episode in our lives, we want to thank the family and friends around us who have helped us much along, we are immensely grateful for everything.

1. billy’s mum: she played the most important role in the whole wedding, from sourcing to preparation, right down to execution. The whole event won’t have happened without her. thank you so much, ma.

2. billy’s dad: thank you pa for supporting us through the wedding. The food you picked was marvelous. =)

3. billy’s bro, john: thank you john for taking the week off early to help us tie all the loose ends.. you can count on us for your wedding in the coming future!

4. tricia’s mummy: thank you mummy. I can never say enough thank you to all you have done in my life.

5. tricia’s kor, Kenneth: I was of no help during my kor’s wedding some years ago.. but he had went the extra mile for me during mine. It really put me to shame how selfish I was then..but I promise I’ll shower my little nephews with more love to express my thanks to my bro and sis in law.

6. tricia’s sis-in-law, lee fen: thank you for taking charge of the gatecrash morning. you really brightened up the entire atmosphere.

7. tricia’s nephew, ming hui: thank you my little boy for ushering uncle billy in =)

8. billy’s sister, wendy: thank you for coming down from Kelantan to help out in the wedding. Didn’t get to catch up with you much but I hope we can have more time to share like the times in kl =)

9. john’s gf, Alicia: thank you for taking time to come despite of your exam the very next day. you are a part of the family..and really look forward to the day I can help me a jie mei for you.

10. runfanatics’ manager, Eugene: thank you so much bro for being the driver and brother through the wedding. We are really grateful for the help.. and did you remember to throw some leaves back into the car before you returned it? =P

11. runfanatics’ atm, weeling: thank you for being photographer, video grapher, lighting helper, car coordinator.. all the roles you have played..countless! hug hug..thank you sis.

12. tricia’s best friend, christin: thank you for being the sister in my life since new life days. And yes, you are one of the 3 most important people in my life =)

13. christin’s hubby, ravi: thank you for coming early to help out. I enjoyed talking to you much…and hope we can enjoy pot wine together again! =D

14. allen & tisha: thank you for coming to the wedding.. can’t wait to see the arrival of your junior! Wowww!!

15. Johnny: thank you for capturing the moments of the wedding for us. You are really professional! =)

16. tricia’s dad: I often face my dad with mixed emotions. i respect him as my dad but I feel that he should treat my mum with more respect and appreciation too.

16. our relatives and friends who made time to be a part of the event..

Our lives are inseparable from these loved ones around us. The event has been made good because we have you! =D

on a good note

Today’s episode made me change my view point about tpl. We were rushing on the parthandling budget all morning, till now, quarter to 3. she had wanted me to change my figures twice which I didn’t do the first time because I plugged her formula in and the figures went all awry. Imagine a 52% positive variance in revenue? Cannot be right? Given the global recession. She insisted how wrong my budget was and wanted me to do it her way.

I was pissed, to be honest. so I perused into the supporting documents and discovered her method is wrong. Instead of blindly following her method, because she wants me to, I went a step further.

First, I amended the report with her formula. Then I saved the same report in another file name and revised it to the usual method we’ve been adopting. Then I emailed along my findings and to let her compare. By doing so, it silenced her on her formula.

I apportioned the revenue via dealer’s net and sales.. and she wanted it to be changed to sales strictly. It’s not something I couldn’t do, but I just felt it was extra work that was unnecessary as I’ve already tabulated and averaged 1 year’s worth of charge out.

I did the regrossed figures as instructed and wow..i was impressed how accurate it made the budget become. I thought the 7-9% variance was pretty neat..but with the -7% to 9% variance now, it is even more accurate given the trend from 2008 to 2009.

All of a sudden, my biased-ness against her was lifted and my whole spirit got lifted. Bitterness is such a heavy burden to carry along. I realize that all of us have our strengths and weaknesses..our blind spots which we need people to help point out to us. For this instance, I pointed out her blind spot and vice versa. By working together, we really made the budget very accurate. Putting aside her kind of sacarcism and impatience, I actually found working with her not that bad. I had initially thought the broad total figures were sufficient enough the effort..but going into the fine details and perfecting them gave me such a sense of achievement.

Waaa..new findings..the budget has not be completed yet. We found some big variances in the given budget for forecasting.. 10mil of difference..waaa…we’re going to investigate..haha..suddenly I find investigating problems really fun =) this budget thing is a mystery we will solve.

It really good to end the working week on a good note. At least I leave office with a lighter heart. Somehow I am already looking forward to work next week as I’m pretty keen to investigate on the variances further. Yay. one last paper tomorrow and I’m a free bird!

yay..after mugging hard for 2 night and today's lunch time..i'm going town with dearie and family..yipeeeeeeee

how long can i hang on?

managed to finish one more round of econs revision. tmr i want to read up some mas macro review..and go through sample exam paper once more. then i'm pretty prepared for the econs exam on sat, i reckon. with 2c-s for both the presentation and quiz, i think my d is getting out of reach.

work is dreadful these days. tpl is a monster. she's worse than fiona and shirley from carrefour days. i'm hanging on for my dear life till end of the year. many moments of the day, helplessness overcomes me and tears just well up in my eyes. i try to brace myself for the worse. i am still accepting it all and taking things in my stride. i don't know how long i can hold on. a part of me tells me i should hang on till i finish my studies because economy is bad and i may not find another suitable job; it might turn out worse. yet, another part of me dread that worthlessness, like a small leaf being trampled on by others in the office. i wish the wind would bring me along and land me somewhere else. =(

time to sleep. i'm tired- mentally, physically and emotionally. i'm looking forward to next week. it ends on thursday and i won't have to face the monster for 6 days. -heaves a sigh of relief-

Our Wedding Page

Our wedding page is up! Do check it out after 30/11/08 as we'll be adding more actual day photos in too.

http://www.mywedding.com/billytricia

Do kindly sign our guestbook while you are there. Thanks! =D

definition of bliss

I have simple definitions of bliss.

When he takes pain and injures himself to fix up the study room because he feels I need more space to study.

When he’s tired yet still stays up to keep me company while I mug for exams.

When he wants to go out for a walk or train but still choose to come home to give me morale support.

When he ferries me to and fro school with no complaints.

When he gets up early on the morning of my exams and goes out to ta-pao vegetarian bee hoon for me to eat before I head out for school.

His frankness and honesty to reason with me what he feels is good and not.

When I’ve ordered hor fun and he orders mee goreng, yet I want to swap with him because I feel his mee goreng tastes better. He’ll willingly swap.

When my cooking is horrendous yet he’ll still finish them up and tell me it’s not bad. Hee!

When I want to run and he has an injury. He’ll still run with me.

When I start blaming myself for the stupid mistakes I’ve made, he tells me he’ll still love me no matter what.

When he shoulders on burden that should have been shared, because he wants me to save my money for studies.

When he always give me the best yet scrimp on himself.

Even when he was tired from all the extra assignments and part time work he had to do, he will always tell me it's ok, because he wants to earn more for our future.

When we dream about what we want to do in the years to come together.

For all that, and much much more I can't finish writing down, thank you dearie. you’ve showered me with love and bliss more than I can ever ask for. I am blessed to have found you. =)

piece our home

We toiled through the weekend, literally. But it was wonderfully fulfilling!

Let’s see. On Saturday, after pof paper, mum, billy and I went out shopping in town. We had dinner by the river then headed down to funan and city hall. We shared a pack of marks & spencer gummy and the sweetness melted in our mouths and hearts.

Sunday we slept in till 8+am before heading out to abc for brunch. Next, we went to ikea and got a new long study table and photo frames to put up our wedding photos. upon reaching home, dearie fixed the table up (which caused abrasion to his hands due to the tedious work of manual tightening of screws into the table) and we packed our study room. It’s so spacious and neat now. somehow that packing stretched out to the rest of the house.

Dearie packed our messy store room while I cleared the shelves in our bedroom and guest room. He then packed the waredrobes in both the guest room and study room. We threw up boxes and bags of trash; things we’ve been piling up in our little house. After all the packing, I gave the house a nice vacuum and mop.

It did not end here. During the evening we went to jurong west for dinner then to giant for shopping. Bought a new shoe rack (something we’ve been wanting to get for the longest time ever!) and a book rack.

Dearie pieced them up together, like a surgeon of carpentry works. By the time we completed revamping our house, it was already 12am. Dead beat, we plonked onto the study chairs, admiring at our accomplishment.

I can only go “WOW!”

impressed. By very impressed! Haha. we spent about $250 on 3 pieces of furniture and it made our place a lot neater and created more space.

I’m glad I’ve got a d-i-y dearie who hands-on-ed on many things in our home. From curtains to mirrors, tables to shoes racks.. we saved a lot because we bought the d-i-y furniture which we could assemble. Dad and mum will be at our place from Thursday, so I’m sure it’ll impress them lots too. meantime, tricia has to ensure all that stays in place, clean up the house on Wednesday again to make the house comfortable for them to reside. =)

new toys!

dearie bought me new earphones after my old panasonic ones spoilt.
it hasthe BLING factor!
it's flexible so it fits around me head like a hairband.

new skin care for myself. i've finished clarins so it's onto kanebo's lunasol series =) this is the emulsion.

the packaging is 1st class! i've tried the little sample packs and i love them. above is the toner.

this is the added little treat for myself. the scrub.

mummy got dearie a pair of shoes as part of the wedding procedure. i suggested instead of giving him an angbao, buying him the actual thing is a better option. give dearie ang bao he'll most probably save it up and insist his shoes are still ok. dearie picked a pair of Dr Martin's Nick Moc Toe. Exactly what you see in the photo.

we spent a good day shopping around. it was something we haven't done in a while since i started the term. a nice break before i begin mugging for econs.

wow.. i still feel so blessed with new things =D thanks dearie for the early christmas pressie! hehe. will definitely use it for training and during the upcoming scsm. woohoo!

running in shape

Tomorrow’s pof paper. the module touches on this wide spectrum of topics and I’m a little lost in the labyrinth of information. I’m onto my final lap of revision but I know I won’t finish in the front pack this time. all I’m hoping is to pass the module.

Tricia deserves a pat on the back and dearie a muak on the cheek (because he has kept me company despite his hamstring injury) for running on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday we didn’t run due to the wet weather. Tonight I’ll do another run for 45mins then begin my last round of studying. Running makes me feel strong and a sense of comfort because at least I’m burning off some of the food I’ve pigged out on. lunch for the past 2 days had been oats, which albeit being a tad boring, is a healthy option I choose to make. Today I’ve brought home cooked fried rice which tastes a little weird, thanks to the new “stuff” I added into it. =X

Keep it up tricia! wedding is 2 weeks away. Scsm is 3 weeks away. Keep this up and I’ll be in shape for my wedding and marathon. Quite a last minute effort but it’s better than none!

We’ve managed to get the slots for japan marathon..but due to classes.. we may not be able to make it =(

I plotted out my classes out on the 2009 calendar and the entire year is packed! Really hope to clear the remaining 6 modules which will start at after Chinese new year till early December. In a way, i can almost see the finishing line from where I am now. it’s just another 1 year away. 6 more modules. 36 more classes. 6 more exams. 12 more months of pure sweat and slog. It’s not that bad. I can almost see myself taking graduating photos. I wonder if there’ll be a convocation of some kind.. in Adelaide maybe? Oooh..i relish the idea of a holiday in adelaide. =D

28 days! (working days)

I took pleasure in the short break back to segamat last weekend..feasting on the sumptuous meals mum cooked. Yum yum! (albeit feeling guilty of not training and only eating =P) upon coming back from holiday, I went on 1.5days of conso course which I deemed a train-chasing one, I struggled to keep pace with prof ng’s speeding through of the context.

I covered the reading of pof but I’m experiencing a mental block while attempting the questions. My concentration level is low and I am encountering difficulties in comprehending what the questions are looking for. At 11pm yesterday, after working through 1 topic of questions, my brain was at this point blank, and all I wanted to do was to stare into blank air. Stress fell upon me like this huge anvil and i was in a way hard pressed. i snuggled with dearie as his words comforted and his warmth encapsulated me.

I got to work through it and I believe I can. I am not going to let the stress beat me.

Year end is drawing to a close. Work is revving up due to upcoming audit, board meeting, budget exercise and year end closing. 28 working days more before I see my bonus coming in. yay! show me the money! =D

ahhhh..holiday!

It’s a pretty laid back day for me as I have completed my work this morning. there are only 4 of us left in the department; 2 on half day leave and 1 on mc. I hope this tranquil will remain so till the end of the day in 3 hours. I’ve been taking the time on my hands to read my pof notes. Out of 11 topics, I’ve finished 4. my aim is to finish 5-6 out of the 11 topics so I’ve got lesser reading to do during my break. I’ll concentrate my effort on attempting questions. Received an econs tutorial to work on as well.

We’ll be setting off for segamat tomorrow morning instead of tonight. It’s a wise move as it’ll give me more time to finish off the housework, do an easy run with dearie and also do some econs reading. Don’t intend to bring the 3 phone-books thick econs text home, hence I’m going to speed read through for main ideas.

I’m pretty on time to complete my revision before exams. I can’t imagine missing 2 rf trainings consecutively, therefore I am still going to be there for training on sat morning before exams. In order to be able to do so, I must ensure I have revised well through that’ll leave no need for last minute cramming on the morning itself. I reckon running before training may not be a bad idea as getting blood run through my brain will definitely wake me up. it’s not a long paper, 3 hours for pof, 2 hours for econs, I’m sure I will be able to hold through pretty decently.

Scsm is less than a month away, as much as I hope I can better my timing from last year’s I also recognize the fact that my mileage has been pretty insignificant compared to what I managed to clock last year. Therefore, I can only hope to hold my run within the 5 hour window.

We’ll be missing rf training for the weekend, both track on sat and 35km run on sun. nonetheless, dearie and I have made plans (and will be determined to accomplish) for training on our own. Tonight we’ve planned to do some easy track training, something easy as we’ve already been tortured yesterday. we’ll run on fri and sat..on which one of the days we’ll go over to the slope behind dearie’s place. the gradient of that slope is crazy, worse than the np one we did last week, but shorter of course. I’m thinking we can probably do anything from 6-10sets. We did 10 sets at np (4 short, 6 long). Running the ah-gu loops is fun..with lots of up and down..so it’s nothing like running on a flat road. Good thing is we will have to do it no matter what because mum goes brisk walking everyday, so that’ll be a perfect motivating force for us to get our butts off our seats. With all these training, it should keep us in proper form before wed’s training. we could really use some mileage..maybe we can make that up on the 16^th after my exam on the 15^th. A 30km run will be great to have. we’ll plan.. plan and execute!

I’ve also penned down the revision work i’m hoping to complete during the break. I love studying at dearie’s house. We get to do our work at the big dining table (this gives us lots of space to sprawl all our barang around).. the place is bright and peaceful (minus the music I always play in the background).

It’ll be great. I’ll get to study.. train and eat a lot of good food. Woohooo! I’m so so so close to my holiday. =D

another down!

so accomplished today. finished my budget comparison for hrd. yay! now can take a break and go into hibernation mode. aiya..no text book else can study abit. hehehe. it's only 3.25pm. =) weee!!

POF assignment down

woohoo! i've completed my pof assignment as planned. sent it out to mel and roger for review. should be able to finalize it and get it sent out by the monday deadline.

one step closer to my segamat getaway.. but i'll not get away from text books and revision. ahhh...

i feel such a burden off my shoulders. now the next thing i need to do is to read through my econs text in the next day or so. after which it'll be more of revising for pof. pof exam is on 15/11. econs exam 22/11. step on it tricia. get through this well and i have the whole of dec to enjoy! woohoo!!

losing focus

I’ve been very distracted and my focus has been all over the place. worked out the calculations for the assignment but I can’t seem to gather my attention to delve into the question. I literally spent 30mins looking at the spreadsheet with nothing in my head. =(

Shall set some targets to accomplish for the week so I can keep my eyes at one point.

1. finish pof assignment by Wed

2. revise pof and econs sample papers. To raise all queries for econs during mon’s tutorial.

3. try to speed read through econs text for quick notes. Not going to focus much on it though. Just for main ideas.

I’ve been considering the papers for next term. If I do get a slot for Tokyo marathon, doing fixed income will clash with it head on. the only alternative is to do portfolio management..yet I’ve been warned it’s one of the toughest modules..and advised that if I’m doing portfolio, I should not be doing other modules concurrently. I feel so torn.. =( really do hope some little miracles to surface when the timetable does finalize; the minor changes would mean fixed income would be brought back 1 week or brought forward 1 week.

Ran 8.5km yesterday..and i’m hoping to run everyday, even if it’s 30mins’ worth.

Won’t be able to do 35km with runfanatics this Sunday..but it’s ok..we’ll do our own ah-gu route with mum! we can top that up with some circuit training too..torture ourselves abit.hahehea.

tired no more

Some things on the top of my agenda are:

1. to quickly go through pof text to grasp main concepts
2. pof assignment 2 done before Sunday!
3. keep up with training as scsm is slightly less than 5 weeks away
4. revise for exams in 3 weeks’ time
5. stay cool and in control

i’m not too sure if I’ve been violating office law too much but I’ve been studying a lot in the office these days. Lugging the heavy financial mgmt text book to office everyday, I would read it whenever work was completed for the day. It’s another month long race for me and I fight on to keep my head above the water. Commencing next week, I’m planning to study every evening, with whatever time I have. most days I’ll be pretty free, now without tuition..so I must make the most out of the time I have. feeling kind of apprehensive towards going for velocity run as traveling back from novena can be tiring and it doesn’t add value to my runs. on contrary, although I too have to travel quite a bit from rf trainings,wed trainings challenge and push me to my limits..and doing it together with team mates makes all the difference.

velocity becomes some what like doing the run for the sake of keeping it up..going through the motions..whereas team mates come to rf training hoping to become stronger and faster. Yesterday we were suffering through the sets..and the guys can still say “excellent”..”fabulous”.. “awesome”.. they are probably a little masochistic, I reckon. =P

this phrase sham said to me during training yesterday resounds within me.. “your body isn’t tired. your mind is.” Even as I continue to go through my revision, my vision fails, my brain shut downs..my shoulders ache..but I believe my mind can hold me through all that. If I can tahan sham’s training..i can tahan through the rigors of this studies. =)

floaters

i'm not sure if this is any cause for worry but my vision has been plagued with floaters. in my case, it's not squigy ones you see on the photo but mine is a straight black line across my line of vision. i've noticed it very often, in particular to occasions i wake up from a nap on the company bus.

maybe i just need new speckies to correct my deteriorating eyesight. hmm.

What are floaters?

Floaters are little "cobwebs" or specks that float about in your field of vision. They are small, dark, shadowy shapes that can look like spots, thread-like strands, or squiggly lines. They move as your eyes move and seem to dart away when you try to look at them directly. They do not follow your eye movements precisely, and usually drift when your eyes stop moving.

Most people have floaters and learn to ignore them; they are usually not noticed until they become numerous or more prominent. Floaters can become apparent when looking at something bright, such as white paper or a blue sky.

What causes floaters?

Floaters occur when the vitreous, a gel-like substance that fills about 80 percent of the eye and helps it maintain a round shape, slowly shrinks.

As the vitreous shrinks, it becomes somewhat stringy, and the strands can cast tiny shadows on the retina. These are floaters.

In most cases, floaters are part of the natural aging process and simply an annoyance. They can be distracting at first, but eventually tend to "settle" at the bottom of the eye, becoming less bothersome. They usually settle below the line of sight and do not go away completely.

However, there are other, more serious causes of floaters, including infection, inflammation (uveitis), hemorrhaging, retinal tears, and injury to the eye.

Who is at risk for floaters?

Floaters are more likely to develop as we age and are more common in people who are very nearsighted, have diabetes, or who have had a cataract operation.

How are floaters treated?

For people who have floaters that are simply annoying, no treatment is recommended.

On rare occasions, floaters can be so dense and numerous that they significantly affect vision. In these cases, a vitrectomy, a surgical procedure that removes floaters from the vitreous, may be needed.

A vitrectomy removes the vitreous gel, along with its floating debris, from the eye. The vitreous is replaced with a salt solution. Because the vitreous is mostly water, you will not notice any change between the salt solution and the original vitreous.

This operation carries significant risks to sight because of possible complications, which include retinal detachment, retinal tears, and cataract. Most eye surgeons are reluctant to recommend this surgery unless the floaters seriously interfere with vision.

the bondmaid

i found this book in our shelf on monday..and i want to read it!! however, as exams are fast approaching..the only books i am allowed to read will be just textbooks. =(

i miss reading novels..sobs sobs. ahh..my judith mcnaught-es and jude deveraux-es..where art thou?

so glad u r around

One of the aspects I love most about dearie is his matured perspective. having to face a supervisor who often brings more frowns than smiles, he never fails to bring into rational viewpoint whenever I lose my sanity.

This morning, a whole lot of rubble was stirred up and that caused the whole suspension to be murky and turbulent. He called and talked me through the problem.. and having realized it was my mistake that I have overseen the email, I took moments off to reflect. Within minutes, I felt a lot better and things were put into perspective again.

Like dearie said, looking on the positive note of things, at least she is meticulous to pick up little mistakes which I often overlook. This is something I have to learn. By working with her more, I hope I can pick up this trait; which may not always be a bad thing to have. in some ways I find myself stupid, because having worked under her for the past 5 months I am still oblivious to the things she looks out for. The lightbulb lit up above my crown today. Yea, I really should be more careful with those nitty gritty stuff she picks all the time. now I know where and how I can remedy the situation – to have no errors for her to pick whatsoever.

another point dearie pointed out - i work for myself, not her. at the end of the day, i need to work to be paid. and yes, in the all-gloom-and-doom economy out there, it is paramount to have a job, that pays! this jobs has little to wow about, but essentially it pays me. i need the money to study and function.. so there's no escape from it.

i agree totally with dearie on the next point to- no matter where i go, there will always be difficult people to deal with. i can't expect them to fit into me, as i am in no position to expect so. she's a salaried employee of the company too, therefore if she tries something funny, she will get the boot!

A spouse is like a blind-spot picker. It’s having someone who dares to spar with you and tell your mistakes face front. And sometimes, he even helps twist my head left or right wards to understand there is more than just one way of looking at things. thank you dearie.. for being that person who plays this vital role in my life =)

have i posted this photo before? to me the photo depicts all i want to say. he holds me hand and runs along side with me, my dearie billy.

deepa curry photos

what we needed for the dish

the final product

dearie tucking into the curry with brown rice
yay! dearie cleared out the entire bowl!

but that's what he looked after wolfing down all that =P

i only realised i forgot this when i was washing the dishes =(
verdict: 7.5/10 (if only i have added the milk! argh!!)

deepa curry

I gave dearie a surprise yesterday on deepavali holiday..actually not much a surprise as he went grocery shopping with me.. I cooked him one of his favourite food – CURRY! Feasted on curry, on deepavali. How apt!

Dearie scored it a 7.5 (out of 10 and not 20 I hope! =P).. however, I feel I’m far off from what mum can do. =( I burnt it a little.. added the stuff in the wrong sequence..and added way too much water.. best thing, I forgot the milk!!?! Argh. Stab stab stab myself!

I’ll upload the photos tonight. Let me find the photo of what mum cooked vs mine. It’s heaven and 3 feet down the earth. I need to practice more. Hence dearie got to bear with a few more experimental rounds. Perhaps I should consult shi-fu for enlightenment; instead of dumping all the ingredients into the pot.. on top of that, I certainly need a deeper pan because our frying pan is too shallow..and using the pot caused everything to stick. I had a hellish time scrubbing up the mess. =X

Hope dearie liked the surprise nonetheless.. =)

We spent the holiday in our best loved simple way. morning we went for a run around our home.. I did about 11.5km..and dearie did a lot more.. after which, he managed to pump up the basketball and we played that at a court nearby. It was pretty evident I don’t have much a making of a basketballer as after 15mins of throwing and dribbling..my arms were wobbly and all the shots went haywire. Dearie taught me a few nice moves. Haha. I commented on how we should form a team the next time we play basketball during runfanatic training.

Exams are fast approaching; so are assignment deadlines. There’s plenty to be done. Work hard now, enjoy later =)

p.s: the photo on the left is NOT the curry i cooked. will upload the photos of the one i cooked in the next few days.

emerging out of it

Dearie came to the rescue of this damsel in distress. Tadah! I’m alive..kicking..and making a whole lot of fuss again. ho ho ho!

It’s terrible to be stuck in a rut. I hate being in the ultra-pessimistic mode. A listening ear from dearie and a power-nap helped made the world a little brighter. Not that those thorns in the flesh dissipated into thin air..nor did dearie hocus-pocus them into submission.. nonetheless, I came into resignation that these thorns in life exist for a reason.

Instead of focusing my time on negative energies like these, I prefer to channel my attention to things that excite me. my bones ache for a good workout and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s training and mon’s mr relay.

Want to run more on mon, so praying for good weather! 2 tuition following that..then I get to stay home and do some studying.

A lot to catch up on. I’m lagging behind revision. =(

So quickly..we’re coming to the end of October. One step nearer to bonus. not looking forward to appraisal because thorn A is conducting it. bleah.

thorn

He’s a thorn in our lives; some one I wish I could remove for good. Why can’t he learn and grow up? Have we not been accepting enough? He has always seen me as a failure; I’ll never forget the words he used to condemn my life with. Over the years I’ve learnt to ignore his never ending wants. Just leave them, after a while he forgets about them. However these days he’ll jack his wants up and goes out to get them on his own, after which claiming from the company. Argh. This is ridiculous and I wonder how can I put a stop to it. Mum is torn..and she always give in. I’m infuriated but there’s nothing I can do.

It saddens me tremendously that I can’t do anything to rescue my mum from a person like that. I wish I am successful, then I can get my mum to stop working, stay by my side and retire.

This will be my driving force.

What I envisage and working towards:

- graduate with masters in 1 year’s time. Take graduate photos with family =)

- change job. Hopefully something better paying and with better prospects

- work hard to earn more and do well in career

- have a kid!

- buy a bigger flat

- move mum in so she can take care of the kid

- earn enough to be able to go for family holidays once a year

- dearie and I drive a Subaru forester =)

The above is still subjected to approval with dearie..but that’s what I dream of having and those are what I’ll be working towards.

If u haven’t notice, he’s not in our plan because I don’t intend to include him in the first place. mum is the closest kin I have next to dearie.. and she will always be one of the driving forces behind me. I remembered working hard during exams and what kept me going was always mummy’s encouragement. She never fails to tell me “jia you, do your best” in the morning before my exams. I learnt not to be a burden to her and I will continue to do that..i want to be the one to lighten her burden..and in the years to come, I want to carry her burden for her.

We don’t just live for ourselves..our lives intertwined with the loved ones around us. I live for dearie..my mum..my family, friends..and myself =)

time of unrest

What goes on in her mind baffles me. the rift between her and us has widen drastically because of what she just did today. I find her foolish for not considering what her actions would have done. It’s not before long when no one in the department would want to even utter a word to her. I wonder if it was of these same reasons she left her earlier jobs.

We won’t know when she’ll strike and I find her actions erratic. A part of me feels the uncertainty gnawing on me. I am struggling to hang on solely for the bonus.

i must put my guards up now as it is a time of unrest. For as long she is around, there will not be peace and we are all susceptible to her manipulation.

How long can I last? 2 months? 6 months?

training and shoes

Despite feeling totally shacked out, I totally enjoyed the training yesterday. I haven’t pushed myself so hard for quite a while and I embraced every moment of it. Christine did a longer 5km set while wee ling and I were asked to do the 600m and 400m sets. I definitely did better than my Monday attempt. Running alone vs running with someone.. the latter made me work harder. I value sham’s coaching..and from now till end of the year, I’ll want to be diligent in attending training sessions. Christine lost quite a lot of weight and she looks fantastic now. I remember the first time she joined us, she struggled to finish the 3km run. Yesterday, she completed 5km in 35mins. Impressive!

I managed to meet the 75% assignment target but I got this huge cloud of blur-ness on top of me when I got there. I am lost in the myriad of terminology and concepts. Alike last term, qm was the module that got me worrisome, this term it’ll be POF(principles of finance). econs is more of concepts, less of calculations.

Right now I’m working on my assignment..going through my notes..text..whatever I can do to complete it by the next 1-2days.

I’ve been wearing the black leather shoes dearie bought me about 2 years ago. The leather has cracked..the left sole has a little hole..but I can’t bear to throw them away.. these are the most comfortable shoes I’ve owned so far..and it cost dearie over rm100. dearie bought me another pair of black leather shoes to replace these some while ago, nonetheless, I haven’t started using the new one. Whenever I’m tempted to shove them down the chute, I remember dearie’s shoes. The last pair he threw away was worn till the sole nearly came off. The current pair he has has a hole on one side but he’s still wearing them. Somehow he has rubbed his thriftiness on to me. he’s always generous to buy things for me but stingy on himself. It reminds me not to take things for granted..and I will only throw away things when they are beyond using condition. =)

Today’s john’s bday! Happy birthday to you, brother! =)

double yay!

i gotten a hd for accounting. i was hoping for a d actually..but i'm thankful.

thank you dearie for keeping me company through the nights i studied..even till times u were so tired u dozed off on the sofa..

thank you mummy for helping me check my assignments for errors.

will work harder this term. this is the first small hurdle. i know there are many tougher ones way ahead and i will press on.

this smiley face cuter rite?

things coming together

Tricia pats herself. Not bad not bad. I managed to complete 1 quarter report out of the 2 required. Reason being the other company’s accounts is currently still under adjustment, hence I am not able to proceed with preparation of the reports. secondly, I finished my POF assignment 1 half way. yay! I managed to slog till almost 12mn to hit the half way mark. Due to a meeting yesterday, I didn’t get to even open my POF file, lest work on it at all.

Today’s resolution:

1. Prepare the template for quarter report. this will speed up the process when the accounts are ready.

2. Start a little of the conso worksheets. Probably the related parties transaction and inter-co recon.

3. finish POF assignment up till 75%. That means hit item 7 or 8 by today.

As I sat at the bus stop reading business times before tuition, I felt the articles in the papers seem to mean a lot more now. prior to the econs and finance class, I read them at face value..now I feel I have a better understanding of what am I really reading. Especially on recession and economic downturn.. the micro and macro effects on the economy. Why Singapore has such huge reserves..why must it understate its budget surplus..how budget deficits are financed by government debt.. balance of payments..what kind of role does central banks play.. the spike in interbank lending rates.. LIBOR, SIBOR.. how the government simulates the economy by injecting government spending..lowering interest rates.. fiscal and monetary policies.. everything seems to link together seamlessly and I simply love the big picture of things I am getting. It’s like this huge and jumbled up puzzle bits coming together to fit.. there are still a lot of missing pieces I am gathering..but honestly I am looking forward to the next econs class!! Can’t wait to hear more of what Prof Peter Wilson has to impart to us =)

I wore a top which I kept in the closet for a long while yesterday..i felt it fitted badly on me; like the checkered pants I wore last week. somehow I felt it was tacky and I looked pretty awful in it. I’m packing it away after laundering it.. it’s becoming evident that clothes I’ve worn 5-6years ago do not always fit as they do anymore, even though I haven’t grown “out” of them.. perhaps they have outlived the era they belong to. haha.

Looking forward to training this evening. Rickety old bones getting her act back. I must admit my fitness has dropped drastically. but I do agree with wee ling that it’s not too late to start! I have less than 1.5mths to scsm and I do hope I can maintain the same kind of timing I achieved last year. Not confident of it, but I will do whatever I can. I am a fighter, and fighter doesn’t give up without a fight.

lazy bugger gets her act together

I confess I’ve been slacking with my POF assignment. I do need to get my act together, yet my brain isn’t moving as efficiently as I want it to be.

By hook or by crook, I must finish half of it today and another half tomorrow. c’mon tricia, stop being the lazy bugger!

I lost my momentum in reading articles etc..i still got a whole stack of FT under my desk.. a whole file of articles I want to peruse..and several print outs I want to investigate into. These days I lug around too much. way toooo much.

Some things I resolute to do today

1. finish 75% of my 2 quarter reports

2. finish 50% of my POF assignment

If I can manage to meet what I’ve set out today, I’ll get myself something. Hmm. Haven’t thought of what to get for myself. But let’s see how close I come to it first. Let’s begin the race against time right now! =D

need to run

i need to run alot alot more.

i want to run everyday.

i want to look into the mirror and love what i see - someone strong, lean and confident.

there's no class this coming weekend, hence i must make it for runfanatic training on sat. come sunday, dearie and i will do macrit loops. hope to do more loops.

i have this momentum running through my veins and i am going to do something about it. i will see something come to past. i know what i want and i am going to get it.

weight loss is the new fad

Tuition has been postponed for today. Good thing I msged Anna this morning to confirm. I’m guessing she might be having some celebrations after her farewell assembly, hence may not make it home on time for tuition.

Dearie is super duper packed with tuition for this entire week. =( Please don’t overtire yourself.. and I know he’s going to be somewhat frustrated that he isn’t able to train. Therefore I’ll try not to mention anything about training in front of him. and I need to come up with some clever ideas on how I can cheer him up as I do understand when tiredness gets the better of us, one can get pretty grumpy.

I made a lousy start with the bland beehoon and half cooked french beans. Oh gee, tricia has to fare better than this =(

Econs through the weekend was insightful..and I’m hoping to read up a few publication of hoon hian teck and friedman. I printed some BOP and Current account data from the singstat website. Want to take a look and do some comparison with that of US.

One topic dearie hates hearing me mention is – weight loss. I guess guys will never fathom why girls have this peculiar obsession with losing weight. I have always struggled with it and I’ve yet to fully come to terms that this. Day after day, I still dream waking up weighing lesser.. my arms looking slimmer…fitting into that snug levis size 25.

Dearie tells me of his former days when he attempted to lose weight. Running 10km everyday, eating only green apples and cereals for dinner. Deep within me, I wish I could do something like that, just as an attempt to lose that last few kgs I’ve struggled so long with. If dearie can do it, I can do it too. I just need some self control and discipline..and I need to feed dearie on another table too! This will stop him from interfering with my weight loss programme. haha!!

i passed QM!

my first result for my first term. i PASSED QM! so glad to clear this. 10 more modules to come. i'm thankful for a good start. jia you tricia!!

cheery+quest

Cheery colours make tricia a cheery girl. I was cladded in nice U2 orange top (dearie bought this), wore flowery earrings dearie made and in the toilet, I can “admire” my fushia pink “inner-beauty”.

Recently I’ve been clearing my waredrobe gradually. A colleague commented on how retro a pair of pants I wore looked. I felt a slight tinge of quirkiness. Checkered and flaring at the ends, it is indeed a pretty cheesy pair of pants to think about it. after washing it clean, I folded it and stuffed it into the “reject” bag. I’ve been clearing steadily clothes I’ve owned for years; some either worn with fluff or simply too outdated to be even worn out to the market. By clearing them out, I am making myself wear the newer and trendier clothes I’ve got. I don’t want to auntify myself all the time..i’m a young professional and I ought to dress like one =)

Reading runners world today, there was a page on a anorexia girl who wrote in to running doc for advice to lose weight. She’s intaking 600cal a day and exercises off 300cal by running. She found her weight stagnated and sought running doc for a reason why. The response from the readers on the comments section was overwhelming. Many shared their journeys out of the eating disorder and how it ruined the many good years of their lives and wrecked their health.

A lady’s quest to stay in shape..or even to shed weight never ends. Because of the “perfect” image forged by the media on how beautiful women should look (read: tall and slim), women chase after this mindless dream of looking slim. I confess that I am one of those women who yearns so much to lose a couple of pounds. But I’ve gone through a journey myself, and it taught me that I must not do it at the expense of my health. It feels exhilarating to stand on the scale and find I’ve gone down by a few kgs..but the dizzy spells and rumbling stomach are not the price that should come with it.

I’ve experimented with many products in the market that promised weight loss..name it, I’ve probably tried them..but all failed to work. there is no miracle pill to lose weight; the only way is to watch your diet and exercise. Watching diet does not equate to stop eating or just surviving on apples and cabbage. It means giving the body quality food to stay satiated and energy to exercise.

In my life time, I’ve gone to my lowest of 43kgs to highest of 51kg..now I am hovering around 46-47kgs. albeit feeling heavy and fleshy sometimes, I will not go into drastic dieting nor starving. I enjoy my Cadbury chocolate.. occasional oreos.. my brown rice.. veg.. noodles.. ban mian.. all the nice food out there.. I do not stop eating. I stopped counting calories too..but I do keep a food log as it’s been a long time habit. I eat till I’m 70-80% full; not 100%. I eat so as to keep training. training allows me to eat. Both go hand in hand.

Ok..i’m still lamenting about the last 2-3kgs I want to lose..i don’t quite have the determination to cut out some food I love… and I can’t afford more time to train given the commitments I have.

Maybe I should give myself a challenge. I actually made it to the 44kg mark when I was training more intensively. I can start this out at end of October. This is a healthy challenge.. and I will be preparing myself for SCSM and ultra in december too!

not bad!

Well done tricia! i deserve a small pat on my back as I managed to complete all the questions to the study guide for POF yesterday! yay! I’m making good progress. I’ll start on my assignment 1 later and I hope to finish it by mid of next week, in order to check my answers against those from my team mates.

I’ve managed to keep up with my lunch time exercise for the past 3 days as well. I haven’t missed one since I started last week, so that’s worth applauding for too! Keep it up tricia! because no matter how small an effort is an effort. No matter how small a step, is a step. All these little effort and steps accumulate and add up into something greater! Hence, keep persisting!

Running mileage isn’t impressive this week as fatigue took the better of me since Sunday; attributable to dayima. Hope to catch up abit on sat’s training.

Work has been at its usual flat-lined progress. As I am typing this entry, I am trying to close another of my accounts, which I aim to finish by this morning. this will give me ample time in the second half of the day to prepare for anna’s class and also start on my assignment.

Planning to do a morning run tomorrow morning as I’ll be having class till 10pm.. Saturday will be runfanatics training at ccab.. Sunday..if time permits, I’ll love to hop into gym for a good 2hours work out. =) training keeps me sane. It gives me time-out from the daily grail of work and studies. And most importantly, it helps me stay in shape to fit into my clothes. Haha. i’m not hopeful but if I can slim down a little before our actual wedding day, it’ll be such a bliss!

uncut diamonds

Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

little pebble

We were briefed on the economic crunch from ag today. It’s something we are all aware of. Cash flows. Collecting debts. Credit limit. All the measures to ensure good cash flows and minimize write down of debts. The whole economy is down and it affects everyone. Blessed are those who are still in school, as they needn’t come in face with the recession to most extent. Years like these can make or break companies, each step must be made with caution.

Ag reiterated exactly what I mentioned to michelle yesterday, “cash is King”. Haha. I have potential of a finance director! =P

I perused into how the economic crunch is impacting on us. Our exposure of risk in relation to investment is fairly minimal. Our investments are mainly on long term plans, which though may not yield us an attractive return, but risks are low. On the other side of the coin, indirect impact of inflation does hit us straight on. managing our finances to maximize what we are getting out of every dollar becomes something we must be wise on. main financial commitments are fundamental bills everyone incurs. On a whole, it eats into how much we can save..but we will still do fine as long we continue to work. I can sense a pressing need to find means to save more.. as yes, cash is indeed king. In times of uncertainty, the liquidity cash gives is the assurance that lets us sleep in peace at night.

When things hit the bottom of the well, it will bounce back. of course, the next question one would probably ask is, “when?” I shrug as I’m no economist nor financial analyst. From what I’m gathering off papers, most influential persons are saying in the next 1-2 years. we can take comfort that market moves in a cyclical fashion.. a dip will follow with a peak..it goes up and down, up and down..

I thought about how it’ll affect chances of employability if I am to go out there. companies will be conservative in hiring .. packages may not be as attractive as before.. companies will still be hiring, probably more to replacing people who have left.., more than opening new positions due to expansion. Despite all these, I guess if we are gems, companies will still be willing to take us in. hence my aim is to file out my jagged edges and polish myself to become a gem with worth.

Team mates have emailed out on date to meet for assignment. Woohoo. I got to get my butt moving. Need to plan out time and things to cover. I managed to read up 1 chapter of notes yesterday. need to read text. Work on questions. Digest the information. Need time!!

Econs is this week. gear yourself tricia!

I am working hard for a cause. i’m a little worthless pebble but I believe one day I will be a gem, as long as I keep refining and polishing myself! =)

drawing strength

i am hanging on with all the strength I have got till end of this month. ZX’s lessons end yesterday (hooray!!) ..next to count down is toward HS’ on 29/10 and Anna on 30/10. 8 more lessons for HS and 7 more for Anna. Hang on hang on!!

conversing with dearie yesterday made me realize how short this school term is. I commenced the term last week and it’ll end on 22/11/08. there’ll be classes this week, next week I’m free, followed with 2 more weeks of intensives. Following one week of break after the intensives, exams are next in line. though it’s a super pant up term, it also means I get a nice 6 weeks of break till 2009! Duality effect I guess.

I’ve began revising POF yesterday..and I got through 2 chapters of questions in my study guide. I aim to complete the next 2 chapters the next 1-2days. To got through the text book questions..and starting on my assignment 1 soon.

Econs module this weekend..it’ll be a hellish time because swee tin warned me of the short assignment 1 notice. Basically we’ll be given the assignment on Friday night and we have to present it on Sunday morning. I only got Saturday to work on it.. gee! Where is my sloman econs text?

I could sense dearie’s weariness from work, project and tuition yesterday night as we lied in bed. Underneath the blanket I reached out for his hand and held it tight. It was my way of telling him that I am with him and we will go through this together. This is how we draw strength from each other.