2009 can be considered a year of many Bs, mainly due to the many 'B's destinations I will be visiting. Reviewing 2009 trips plan (oh so many.. keke):
April 2009: Kuala Lumpur / Melaka Trip. Ok, no B here. but it was my 1st holiday trip of the year, and it was to celebrate my 29th birthday! Great time relaxing and doing nothing much in KL while we makaned all the way in Melaka
June 2009: Batam. My 1st trip to Batam. Stayed at the fabulous Harris Resort which has lotsa activities! Tried cable ski for the very first time! My advise, bring a pair of lousy used gloves. The force exerted on your palms could cause u blisters! great BBQ dinner by the pool, with live entertainment where staff gathered all present to a sing and dance session. Shiok!
Sept 2009: Bali. Bali is one of the world's most famous island with its sandy white beaches and clear blue seas. can't wait!
Dec 2009: Bangkok. Bangkok is starting to turn into my most visited cities! Thsi will officially mark my 7th visit to the bustling capital of Thailand! That's just after Kuala Lumpur where I might have visited around 8 times! Oh and not forgetting 6 times each to Mumbai and Delhi, but those were biz trips, not counted.
See, lotsa Bs.. too bad other more exotic Bs are not in, like Bolivia, Boston etc.. Potentially planning another trip in end Aug 2009.... this year could potentially be my most travelled year (holiday travels i mean)! keke.
Friday, July 24, 2009
iras call-up
i received a call from an unfamiliar number yesterday. I picked up the phone and on the other side was a lady saying: 'hi, this is calling from IRAS'. My heart sank. I quickly raced thru my past records in my head: have i paid my tax? Or have i missed out on any declarations?
turns out this lady was responding to my 'recently submitted' resume. 'Are you available for a temp position at IRAS?' she asked. I was stunned! I've not updated my resume since September 2007! It will be a horrific task for me to even try and locate my resume. She claimed that my resume was submitted online in July 2009 for this position. When i told her that is impossible, she laughed in disbelief. I told her that i'm in my current job since 2007, and had not applied for another since.
Her response was, it was an online resume submission, so it will not be possible for those who are not sincere in applying to submit the Word doc. Both of us were bewildered by this. With a laugh, we both hang up our phone.
My colleagues, who by now have guessed what was going on while i was on the phone, told me that it could be someone trying to use my resume to apply for a job.
Or was it a ghost?
turns out this lady was responding to my 'recently submitted' resume. 'Are you available for a temp position at IRAS?' she asked. I was stunned! I've not updated my resume since September 2007! It will be a horrific task for me to even try and locate my resume. She claimed that my resume was submitted online in July 2009 for this position. When i told her that is impossible, she laughed in disbelief. I told her that i'm in my current job since 2007, and had not applied for another since.
Her response was, it was an online resume submission, so it will not be possible for those who are not sincere in applying to submit the Word doc. Both of us were bewildered by this. With a laugh, we both hang up our phone.
My colleagues, who by now have guessed what was going on while i was on the phone, told me that it could be someone trying to use my resume to apply for a job.
Or was it a ghost?
Monday, July 20, 2009
life is fragile
within a span of 4 days, 2 people i know passed away as they lost their battle to cancer. the first was a neighbor, RouLin. on the 15th July 2009, i received an sms from my mum on this update. the first reaction was of shock. She was of my age. We went to the same tuition class when we were primary 6. After primary 6, however, we did not keep in touch. that was 1992. I've heard about her only via my mum once in a blue moon. To think that 16 years down the road, i will meet her again at her funeral at the void deck. She was a beautiful young lady with a successful career. during the funeral, the pastor told her history. apparently, she had a finance degree but she went on to do a law degree and was working with her new employer for slightly over 1 year prior to her death bed. Her diagnosis of stomach cancer was in Nov 2008, but she went through chemo by herself w/o informing her family until a stage she could not keep it from them.
At the funeral, frens and relatives and neighbors gathered with grief faces. i've not seen a more sombre funeral. Perhaps it was due to her young age, everyone was feeling that her lose was really a great pity. it was at that time that it struck me life was really fragile and precious. Death can happen to anyone, successful or failure, young or old.
My deep heart lingered for the next 2 days as i tried to focus on the more positive things in life. Then came this morning at work that i found out that a colleague had just gave in to cancer. Mr Anthony Sim was a very friendly mentor to most of us, partially due to his seniority. He was the oldest member in my firm. he had such memorable laughter that he won the Most Gregarious Laugh last year during my company's x'mas event! always friendly and smiling, this grandfather was also generous. he would bring his home grown big fat banana for us. and it was the best banana you can ever have. thick red and sweet, nothing you can find in the stores.
When i found out about his death, it was already 2 days late. he passed away on 18th July 2009 in the morning. Some of my colleagues went down this afternoon to his funeral. the atmosphere was quite different from Roulin's. mainly due to his age and that he has lived a full life. everyone was pleasant and smiling.
however, there was still a sense of loss in me. 2 back to back deaths involving cancer is intimidating. another colleague is now away from work to nurse his mom from cancer as well.
All these events pierced hardly into me. Sometimes, when life is good, you tend to overlook on things around you. I need to learn to appreciate those around me more. Maybe I shd start to venture outside my box from today. Maybe I shd get a full body check up.
No one knows when is each's expiration date. one can only try to make each day a great one while still breathing.
RIP Roulin and Anthony.
At the funeral, frens and relatives and neighbors gathered with grief faces. i've not seen a more sombre funeral. Perhaps it was due to her young age, everyone was feeling that her lose was really a great pity. it was at that time that it struck me life was really fragile and precious. Death can happen to anyone, successful or failure, young or old.
My deep heart lingered for the next 2 days as i tried to focus on the more positive things in life. Then came this morning at work that i found out that a colleague had just gave in to cancer. Mr Anthony Sim was a very friendly mentor to most of us, partially due to his seniority. He was the oldest member in my firm. he had such memorable laughter that he won the Most Gregarious Laugh last year during my company's x'mas event! always friendly and smiling, this grandfather was also generous. he would bring his home grown big fat banana for us. and it was the best banana you can ever have. thick red and sweet, nothing you can find in the stores.
When i found out about his death, it was already 2 days late. he passed away on 18th July 2009 in the morning. Some of my colleagues went down this afternoon to his funeral. the atmosphere was quite different from Roulin's. mainly due to his age and that he has lived a full life. everyone was pleasant and smiling.
however, there was still a sense of loss in me. 2 back to back deaths involving cancer is intimidating. another colleague is now away from work to nurse his mom from cancer as well.
All these events pierced hardly into me. Sometimes, when life is good, you tend to overlook on things around you. I need to learn to appreciate those around me more. Maybe I shd start to venture outside my box from today. Maybe I shd get a full body check up.
No one knows when is each's expiration date. one can only try to make each day a great one while still breathing.
RIP Roulin and Anthony.
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