25 June 2009 (Thursday)

This is the day my life will change. For better or for worse, no one knows.
But one thing's for sure, I am gonna miss AR, Mum and my family back here in SG.

Last Day

24 Nov 2008 (Mon) - my last working day in NEA.

There was a farewell breakfast (Nasi Lemak) for me and another colleague who was also leaving on the same day. I had requested NOT to have any farewell party cos I felt it was meaningless and a waste of money too, but then because there was another person involved, I guess they wanted to 'kill 2 birds with 1 stone'.

Anyway, I returned all my stuff and left before noon.

Mulyadi asked me if I did shed a few tears, of course not! And he asked me if I felt even a little sad about leaving, of course not! Why should I be? Why do I have to feel sad about leaving a great big wayang and meaningless lie of a job behind me? LOL

Final Task

at long last, my final task in NEA has come and gone. It was the culmination of more than 3 mths of sheer hard work, frustration, and certainly some uplifting moments as well, when some of my colleagues came together to really work as an effective team, in order to make this event a succeess, even though at the end of the day, we knew we were doing for the sake of having to do it. there was really no sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. nothing substantial was achieved, people will not change their mindsets overnight, and certainly not in the near future as well. what's the point of doing something so meaningless then? well, because we just had to do it. brainless? yeah. totally.

*~*

and of cse, i shld dedicate a few lines to the few people who have exploited our collective sense of responsibility and just left everything for us to do, even when YOU have been assigned to do it. you may feel that you have won it this time (and perhaps many other times in the past or in the future as well), by slacking totally and conveniently leaving everything to us. but i tell you, you know who you are (not only one but a few), you have really lost it. not only did you lose what little respect we had left for you as a colleague, but you have also totally lost your credibility and reliability as well. You should really be ashamed of yourself, although I know you probably have no sense of it at all. come on, in the pte sector, you would be the first ones to be axed.

*~*

24 Nov - that will be my very last day in NEA. In a way, I am very glad that I am leaving as I really hate dealing with the unreasonable public. Maybe it's bad karma; I had been a nasty member of the public before, so it's payback time now. and payback time is finally over.

*~*

a new chapter of my life will begin soon. and i noe it'd be good from now on.

A new career

It's been ages since I last wrote something in this blog, and many, many things had happened since then:

Sept 2006: Last blog entry

Dec 2006: got married! went for honeymoon in Melbourne+Tasmania (1 whole month!!)

Jun 2007: Left Science Ctr and joined MOE (big mistake! left soon after), went for short holiday in Bangkok+Kanchanaburi

Aug/Sep 2007-Nov 2007: bummed around aimlessly, did some meaningless jobs here n there, just to get by

Dec 2007: joined NEA, thinking this is where I'd spend the rest of my working life (come on, it's less than 30mins away by walk-bus-walk and only 3 bus stops away from home!)

June 2008: Vacation in New Zealand (South Island) - about 10 days

June 2008: applied for XXX Cadet Pilot programme (had applied before in 2007, but turned down the chance to go for the 1st interview due to personal reasons)

4 July 2008 - got email to attend 1st interview at XXX Training Centre

18 July 2008 - went for 1st interview

24 July 2008 - received email telling me to go for 2nd interview on 30 July

30 July 2008 - finished 1st amongst 10 applicants for morning's psychrometric tests (fun!), had lunch at canteen with fellow applicants (food was alright..), last person to go into interview room at around 4:30pm (long and tiring wait for me turn..), came out for tea party. Thought I fared badly at interview, cos I was actually having stomach cramps (kan cheong? hungry? cold? dunno..). went home thinking I won't make it and will be stuck in NEA forever.. sadness..

31 July 2008 - had to call at 11:30am to find out results of 2nd interview (super kan cheong!) morning went down to SRP with Mulyadi, Shaun and Mun Wai to see-see-look-look.

11:30am: "Congratulations Mr Wong! You have made it through the 2nd interview, please go for your medical checkup tomorrow"

Yes! I made it! Huge sigh of relief.. I think my psychrometric test results helped me (honestly, I had fun during the computer tests), despite my poor showing in front of the poker-faced interview panel.

1 Aug 2008 - went for medical checkup

18 Sep 2008 - after a long wait, finally got a call from XXX, telling me I have to redo my blood pressure test, just to be sure, once I submit the results, they will offer me the 17 Oct OBS course. Hmm.. but it's a little too late for me to tender my one-month notice, plus I had lots of work and responsibilites on my shoulders now. If I leave now, what will happen to my colleagues? Nevertheless, went to redo my BP, everything was okay and I was offered the 17 Oct course, but I chose to defer to 28 Nov due to current work commitments (even till today, I wonder if I did the right thing.. ha..)

19 Sep 2008 - offered the 28 Nov OBS course

24 Oct 2008 - tendered resignation with NEA, last day will be 24 Nov

1 Nov 2008 - employment package came via Speedpost, but no one was at home, so it got redirected to the nearby post office

3 Nov 2008 - picked up employment package, letterhead is from XXX itself; sent back receipt confirmation on the same day via Speedpost (costs me $9.15..)

5 Nov 2008 - AR returned from her school's Shanghai trip this morning, went to T3 to pick her up. She's sleeping as I'm writing this new blog entry now. Life is gonna change, for me, for AR, for everyone close to me and my heart. I don't know what's in store for me in the future, but I can rest assured that it's all in God's plans.

Amen.

10 Commandments of Marriage

COMMANDMENT 1

Marriages are made in heaven. But so are thunder and lightning.

COMMANDMENT 2

If you want your wife to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say, talk in your sleep.

COMMANDMENT 3

Marriage is grand -- and divorce is at least 100 grand!

COMMANDMENT 4

Married life is very frustrating. In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens. In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens. In the third year, they both speak and the neighbours listen.

COMMANDMENT 5

When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: Either the car is new or the wife is.

COMMANDMENT 6

Marriage is when a man and woman become as one; The trouble tarts when they try to decide which one.

COMMANDMENT 7

Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you say. After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish.

COMMANDMENT 8

Every man wants a wife, who is beautiful, understanding, economical, and a good cook. But the law allows only one wife.

COMMANDMENT 9

Marriage and love are purely matter of chemistry. That is why wife treats husband like toxic waste.

COMMANDMENT 10

A man is incomplete until he is married. After that, he is finished..

Wedding Photo Shoot

SATURDAY 22ND JULY 2006

finally, the day of our long-awaited photoshoot has arrived.

we promptly arrived at our bridal studio 15 mins to 10am, but found the door locked. so, we just went for kopi first at a nearby ya kun shop, returning only at 10:30am.

by the time the first makeup for her was finished, it was almost 12noon...

then followed another 3.5 hours of posing, changing in n out of costumes, re-apply and touch-up makeup, before we could finally take a break at 3:30pm... and we had not even had lunch!

i was coughing really badly and was having a bout of flu n slight fever as well then, but fortunately i survived. thinking back, it was quite fun, but certainly quite tiring as well.

at about 4:15 pm, after having a quick bite, we headed out for our outdoor photo shoot.

first stop: Botanic Gardens. well, we lost our way. sort of. anyway, people were amused and kinda tickled to see us there, in gown and suit. fortunately, it was a rather cloudy day, else i would have perspired even more!!

second stop (final stop actually): Fullerton Hotel area.
ang mohs walking by us (presumably tourists) would all congratulate us and stuff... while fellow Singaporeans will either stare at you as if you are some weirdo from another planet or they would all 'siam' you like the plague.

was told by the photographer (quite a funny chap) to 'run' towards him but not to be 'too drama-mama'. wah.. beri cheem... after 3 unsuccessful and highly embarrassing trials, and also quite tiring, we gave up and decided to just wait for sunset to take a few nice pictures with the Fullerton as the backdrop. (very cliche i know.. but its nice okay..)

hopefully, the pics will turn out fine and that we will not have too much trouble choosing 24 out of the more than 120 shots we took for the whole day...

and paying extra $75 for each additional 15R or $30 for each additional 4R? no way man..

3rd August 2006 that's the day we will choose the final 24 pics...

here's a pic we took in Perth in June by ourselves:

Lala pics