Was trying to see if my old sites/blogs were archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Well, what do you know? This was written 10 years ago, back when my site was known as “Hedonism”. *rolls eyes*:

18 April 1999

Oh boy… my mum’s 50th birthday is just three days away and I still do NOT know what to get her! My grandma got her this really nice wallet so I can’t get her a wallet! Grr… I can’t get her perfume, ‘cos I don’t have enough money to get her a decent one. Oh geez… what am I supposed to do?? What can I get her? Oh no, oh no, oh no… I have to get her something! I didn’t get her anything last year! Oh boy, this is killing me! I’m feeling so frustrated!

On a happier note, I’ve finally completed the new Hedonism today. Ahh.. I feel a great sense of achivement now… *L* Only last month, did I realise that I have not added a journal entry since *gasp* January! I’m pathetic! If this goes on, I’ll become a procrastinator in no time. Talking about procrastinating, I haven’t even updated my Hanson site since April 3rd! What am I thinking?? I have so much free time and I keep putting things off… I’d better start changing soon.

Anyway, church was good today. The speaker, Dr. Freddie Boey, delivered this really motivating speech, not to mention funny too. ) Oh, and my grandparents left today for their 4-day cruise. They went with 8 other ‘old’ people. My grandpa tells me he’s gonna spend some time with the jackpot machine. Hope he doesn’t overdo it. But I shouldn’t worry too much, grandma will control him. *L* With both my grandparents gone, I can finally watch TV in their room! *evil grin* No more fighting with my dad for the remote control. And I don’t have to go to the living room to watch TV anymore! Heheh… Although it’s just 4 days, it’s more than enough for me. ) What can I say? I’m easily contented! ) Well, gonna watch PO5 now… Later!

Believe it or not, I was cringing the whole time while reading through this post. I’m SO glad I’m older and wiser now. :p

Then the “Red Chook” phase came along… Did you know I wanted to be in advertising?

2 December 2001

anyhow, the school term begins again tomorrow and i’m really looking forward to it. i’ll be learning advertising and media management… i think? i’m not sure. i love advertising. it’s one of my career options actually. however, i don’t know if i’m up to it. i’m not exactly that creative. i guess i’ll just see how it goes. i’ll take one step at a time and try not to think too far ahead. sometimes, over-planning isn’t all that good. right?

Things got emotional when I left for Brisbane:

4 June 2002.

my grandma has been acting all weird ever since friday, when she found out i was definitely going to QUT. this morning, when she found out that my flight has been confirmed for july 1st, she got all quiet. i nearly cried but i forced myself to hold back the tears. i knew she’ll start crying if i started crying and i really can’t bear to see my grandma cry. i’ll get all choked up. and just 5 minutes ago, my grandma came into my room and started crying and telling me how much she’s gonna miss me when i go to brisbane. i couldn’t control it anymore and started crying too. i love my grandma to death and i get weak whenever she cries. damn. i really can’t bear to leave her, and my mum…

Here’s one of the funnier incidents that happened in Brissie, that I’m glad I noted down:

11 February 2003

now, here’s something andrew badly wants me to mention: so, we’ve arrived at the airport and there he was, waiting for us (*cough* mainly huaiky, as we all know) and a certain uncle of mine was there too, to pick us up, as well! (see how loved we are? ) now, steff and i were in this uncle’s car and the other 2 were, we all know where… so, when we got home, this uncle just takes our bag out of the boot and then he happily says goodbye! poor ol andrew was in a state of “shock” cos now he had to lug 3 of our very heavy luggages up the stairs, all alone! hee. oh well, i’m sure my uncle was just giving him a chance to display his strength and sense of gentlemanliness (is there such a word?).

After uni, I came back and worked for a year in the PR & Events industry. This post here occurred during the last leg of my time in the industry (and got myself into teaching):

17 October 2005

i’m now officially jobless.

i did end up working the extra two weeks but it wasn’t too bad cos there wasn’t a whole lot to do, and most of the time, i was just sitting around, doing bits here and there and um, chatting on msn. heheh. i’m definitely gonna miss my kick-ass colleagues, without whom, my dwindling sanity would have long been devoured by the she-predator.

See what I did? I called my ex-boss a “she-predator”! Heh.

As mentioned earlier, I got myself into teaching, and here I’m singing the same song over and over again. Even up till today:

18 April 2006

i still love teaching, in case you were wondering. it’s been awesome. exhaustingly awesome. i’ve devoted so much time to it that i hardly have much time to do anything else but indulge in tv. after such a long day at work battling my composure no thanks to annoyingly-adorable teens, i am simply too decapitated to fathom anything else. thank goodness i enjoy watching tv, huh?

But getting into teaching wasn’t easy. It took me about 3 tries, I believe, before I was confirmed as a teacher. Here was when I finally got my letter of acceptance:

29 November 2006

When I opened my mailbox earlier this evening and saw this big, brown envelope with the words “ON GOVERNMENT SERVICE” stamped in big, bold letters on the top, I knew this was it. This was the exact moment I’ve been waiting for for over a year, ever since I decided to teach. Funny how I always imagined this moment to be a lot more exciting. Not like I’m expecting fanfare or confetti or anything like that — although… how cool would that be? — but I certainly expected to have a much bigger reaction than “oh, finally!”, which was exactly what I said in my head when I saw the envelope.

Ah, good times, Internet. Good times.

Have you been introduced to Tumblr yet? It’s a great, great way to share links, photos, videos. In fact it’s so convenient, that I’m going to update that all the time, leaving this only for the lengthy posts.

So in case anyone was keeping count, I’ve got this blog, Twitter and a Tumblr. How in the world do I keep up with all of them?

Well, I don’t.

Firstly, pardon the lame-ass title. I really couldn’t think of anything else. I know. It’s pathetic. ANYHOW.

I am enjoying whatever’s left of my long weekend. Granted, it wasn’t all about having fun, but in between the (minimal) marking and chilling out with the best bunch of friends, I’m certainly well-rested enough to face a brand new week of insane deadlines and a new bunch of crazy essays to mark.

It’s been so long since I had a good rest that I almost forgot what it felt like to be this relaxed. All thanks to Labour Day, my long weekend started on a high, mostly because I don’t have to prepare lessons until the new semester begins in end June (yay!), and also, I finally got the Blackberry Bold. I probably shouldn’t be this excited over a gadget, but I have been coveting it for awhile and since StarHub recently introduced an affordable plan for individual users like myself, I was glad I didn’t have to settle for the iPhone.

On a completely unrelated note, Huaiky (I miss you, hun!) recently sent me this email (Thanks, by the way! Heh.) about educational tools on the web and one of them was this website that’ll easily turn my handwriting into a font. It only costs US$9.95 so, what the heck… Presenting my very own font:

The underscore and some of the symbols didn’t turn out very well but I was too lazy to edit the template. Anyway, I’m actually rather happy with the way it turned out. It’s not my best writing but it’s not too bad, yes? Oooh… Perhaps I can create a bunch of fonts and sell them online? That should help finance my shopping household expenses. But seeing as this is my first font, I shall offer it to you for free. :p Go ahead, download my font. Be sure to let me know what you think!

Last Monday, I bitched about SingTel’s dismal service while I was at the store, trying to get a cellphone. I sent them a complaint on the very same night and – what do you know? – they didn’t respond until today. Yes, one ENTIRE week later. Well done, SingTel. Well done.

As though it wasn’t enough having them take so long to get back to me, I found their response less than satisfactory:

Dear Miss T

Thank you for your feedback of 7 April 2009.

I am sorry to hear of your experience at hello! Tampines Mall. I agree with you that good customer service is important to our valued customer. You may be assured that we note on your feedback for improvement in service rendered. We appreciate your understanding on this matter.

Nonetheless, I am glad to inform you that our sales staff had reserved a set of Blackberry Bold and will contact you soon. If you need further help, please call me at 6838 xxxx. I will be glad to help you.

Yours sincerely

N Bte Mohd (Ms)
Executive
Customer Relations
for and on behalf of:
Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte Ltd

I understand that these companies are never actually sincere/sorry, but this reply here just sounds so… fabricated. It’s as though there was some kinda template that the Customer Relations Officer could just copy-and-paste from. Which led me to wonder why it took so damn long for them to get back to me.

Anyhow, so I went back to the store again today to get my Blackberry Bold. This time, a different Sales Assistant attended to me and I was somewhat taken aback by a brand new piece of information that the other guy didn’t tell me last week (should I even be surprised at the jarring lack of consistency?). Apparently with the Bold, I’m not able to access WiFi without first subscribing to BB’s Internet Service due to some configuration issues. So on top of the 3G plan, I’ll have to fork out an additional $40+ (minimum) to access the Internet on the Bold? Huh. Is that why BBs are less popular? Cos the plans are expensive?

Now, I’m looking at the iPhone again. As attractive as all the million apps are, I’m highly concerned about the much-criticised battery life and the fact that it’s a touch screen. I’m not the biggest fan of touch screen phones. Call me a prude, but I’d much prefer having actual buttons, that way it seems more “safe” since it’s kinda less dependent on the software. Then there’s also the battery issue which has got many users complaining. Sure, Apple has offered some tips to save the phone’s battery life, but most of them require turning OFF features. Um, hello? Why am I getting a phone only to turn OFF the features? Granted, the only 2 that directly affect me are having to turn off 3G and WiFi. Still. It’s somewhat troublesome having to turn them on and off, y’know?

Ultimately, it’s a matter of money vs product. As much-lauded as the BB is, the subscription is really gonna set me back a lot more per month. Also, I have absolutely no need for the pushmail service, which really is the key feature of BBs. Then there’s the iPhone, a device that is inherently more suitable for my sort of usage (calling, texting, surfing, tweeting) but I’m really concerned it wouldn’t last me a day at work, which is imperative considering the kinda hours that I sometimes put in. To break it down:

BlackBerry Pros: Actual buttons, better battery life, more aesthetically-pleasing to me
Cons: Price plan is expensive, No need for pushmail

iPhone Pros: Cheaper price plan, More apps, Better Internet browser
Cons: Touch screen, short battery life

Help?

Y’know, I was just thinking, thanks to the Internet, people are now becoming informed consumers. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t gone out to make a purchase without having consulted the Internet first. Me? I’ve been toying with the idea of upgrading to the Blackberry Curve 8900 for awhile now, but part of me has also been desiring the iPhone. So what’s a girl to do? Google both for reviews, of course. And after about 30 minutes of intense researching and oogling at both models, I managed to come to a decision (I’m getting the Blackberry, in case anyone’s counting), one that I’m very satisfied with.

Now imagine what it would’ve been like Before Internet (B.I.) – I’d have to scour through shelves of magazines, flip through the hundreds of ad-clogged pages, before finding that one review. Repeat process to look for a second, or even third one so you can gather more perspectives. By the time you’re done, you would’ve wasted plenty of precious time. And you still might not be extremely convinced.

You see, life B.I. didn’t allow us to read through user reviews – which, on more than one occasion, would give us a more representative/genuine feel of things, mostly because these guys (a) weren’t paid to write the review, and; (b) they’re real-world users. Besides, it’s always good to do some cross referencing and a couple of comparison checks to ensure you get the most accurate information. Yes? Now only if there was some programme to help us gather all these details and generate a side-by-side comparison chart. That would certainly be very useful.