had my SMU interview yesterday; met sandy there too! but we were in different groups though.. interview was conducted in a group of eight candidates (including me) and two professors, topic was on politics and youth involvement.. i felt really relieved that the people in my group were nice so everyone had enough chance to talk, unlike sandy's group mates whom i heard were really competitive people..

but i dont think i did well for the essay part.. we were given 45 minutes to write a 500-word essay on topics like "tell a friend your style of learning as a student", "individualism", "social change", "idealism vs pragmatism" and two more i cant remember..

idealism?? pragmatism?? i totally had no idea..

chose the "style of learning" topic in the end, but i felt i was kinda out of point and i didnt manage to finish on time.. oh well..

when the SMU admin staff briefed us before the interview, he told us we are among the 2000 (out of 6500 applicants this year) being selected for interview, but they will be accepting only 600+ from this 2000.. i think im lucky enough already.. so being accepted will be a bonus..

had dinner with sandy at New York New York after that.. tried the chicken pasta recommended by sandy and chicken drumlets as side dish.. not bad actually but i will still order fish for my next trip :D

accompanied her to laSENZA after dinner cause she had to help her colleagues get some lingerie.. they were having this session from 6-9pm where only members were allowed in to enjoy special discounts (we got in under her colleague's name).. the queue was long, many of the shoppers bought so much, there were even staff serving wine and finger food..

yay interview is FINALLY OVER!! im actually feeling very happy despite being quite certain that i wont be selected.. im not going to read newspapers anymore! well at least for a couple of weeks or so :p

have sent out a few job applications so will just wait now and take a break too! :)

nice one from Kenny G :)

--

my last day at Mizuho
colleagues treated me to a great lunch at Curry Favour, a japanese restaurant along Stamford House.. enjoyed the ride with viv, weiming and clare in jonathan's car - from the dizzy carpark turns to clare's hairy man to clare's 黑色饼干 *laughs*

a small token of appreciation from me - donuts from Donut Factory :)








and coincidentally, ai leen bought donuts from JCO too, donuts overload! haha we had an exchange, this is the one she gave me.. and on the left is the pack of muji strawberry marshmellows from viv :p














two super nice people i'll definitely miss..














clare is someone really nice to talk to..














and sharon is very sister-ly..














our fun shot :p














they made me feel remembered even though i was alone in the corner..

and this is my department! (short of michele and karen)




rashid, jonathan, weiming, ai leen, catherine, janelle, clare and sharon :)




this is viv and the hip the mr. ho..














gonna miss my workplace and the friends i made there, and viv of course is one of them! we cant look at each other during funny moments cos we will laugh even harder haha.. feels like i've known her for longer than two months.. she's the first person whom i found out likes the first and the last slices of a loaf of bread just like i do! and other than cousin, she's the second person whom i know loves bread as much as i do too! :p

feels like i havent talked enough to the people there before i leave.. HR made me clear my emails and stuff and sign the termination form, as if i've done something wrong and they were asking me to pack and go haha.. many shook my hands to wish me all the best and some asked my most feared question "what's your plan next?".. i dont know, really dont know.. credit suisse's offer is tempting but not without the reply from uni.. accepted or not, i just want their letter the soonest possible so i can decide what's next..

--

met up with cousin after work, had dinner at the makansutra gluttons bay, then we chatted and enjoyed the beautiful night view.. great place to be at (less the horrible youngsters shooting vulgarities at each other in the background).. then we took 502 express back home, the journey took me an hour and twenty minutes but i still prefer direct buses to train..















slept and napped for so long today, feeling great! :p

sis brought me to Seasons Reasons for dinner at Raffles City basement just now; a small restaurant with simple yet cosy settings.. service was good and food was not bad too..

our drink: homemade ice tea (you add the sugar syrup yourself so you can control how sweet you want it to be)

our starter: seafood combo!

our main course: seafood pasta!

shopped around for awhile before heading home.. and in A"N"BC, this silly-looking 龙猫 caught my attention..

look at its tummy and bushy tail! if not for the price ($53.95!), i guess i would have grabbed it home right away..

and i saw the soft toy cousin likes too! but it's the bigger version.. want to show cousin this picture!

looks like i've been eating lots of good food recently, feel so 好命 haha :p

tomorrow's my last day at Mizuho, kinda 舍不得 :(

update of pictures!




























and on the day itself, vivian got me a birthday cake too! a nice mango one :P had a quick lunch and went to capital tower's level 36 to enjoy the view, eat cake and take photos!
















my memorable 20th birthday :)

buddies celebrated my birthday for me over at Essential Brew last night! they treated me to a good dinner, my drink was specially decorated by gris and liangyu and even my piece of fish was exceptionally big!

after all the eating and talking and laughing and lame-ing, foong suggested ordering Rainbow Indulgence for desserts, i thought it was some big-portion desserts for sharing and while waiting it would be the gift-opening part like usual.. then gris suddenly brought out the Rainbow Indulgence (which was actually five mini glasses of beautiful cheesecake.. with candles!!), i never expected that at all because we never had cakes in our past birthday celebrations! then all of them started singing the birthday song!

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa........

cant remember when was the last time i had a cake for birthday and a birthday song and birthday wish-making because my family doesnt have the habit of celebrating.. so you can imagine how happy and touched i was :)

and not to forget, the nice bag they got for me! thank you buddies!! for the dinner, for the present and the cake! sorry for making you all spend so much..

had a nice catch-up with all of them (except gris as she couldnt join us at the table) too!

will put up more pics when i get them from foong!

and thanks cousin for the yummy Swensen breakfast today! it was a perfect combination of grilled tomato, juicy mushrooms, cheese hotdogs, blueberry pancakes and my favourite hashbrown! :p

im turning 20 on monday!! no more '1' in front, getting old haha..

a big THANK YOU to dear buddies and cousin for the wonderful birthday treats! and sokkee for the birthday card she made for me! really appreciate all your efforts! :)

--

just to share:
1. 杨宗伟's 让. nice song with sad lyrics, i especially like the last sentence (多少日子盖的罗马,　你用一夜拆了城墙).. watch the MV on youtube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BP5RYhpHVA the effect will be even better!
2. 曹格's 爱爱. it's a love song but it's really cute! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM82IEvUPKQ


"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!" =DDD

clare is getting married!! was bursting with excitement when she told me that, she's the first friend of mine who's getting married :)) marriage seems so real all of a sudden.. especially when she showed me and sharon the wedding rings she is getting and the type of gown her designer suggested.. her wedding is on dec 29 at Sheraton Towers and im invited!! sharon and me will be going together, im so happy, happiness does spread ;)

signed up for broadband finally! youtube video loads super fast now, whee~ been listening to 吴克群's 为你写诗, 李圣杰's 擦肩而过 and 张绍涵's 亲爱的那不是爱清 :) have also been watching out for 萧敬藤 too, man of little words, plus he has got a unique style of singing, i think these make him kind of attractive :p

received SMU's call that day, my interview is scheduled on apr 24.. there will be an essay test too.. will do my best :)

and hope everything turns out well for 二姑, 好人有好报..