I was watching Bachelor 3 while having a late dinner after gym just now. Out of the 4 remaining gals, I like Jen best. She's just so sweet and genuine, even though she might not be the best-looker there. Can't stand Christina, I wonder how she even got into the final 4 in the first place. And she's such a sore loser when she gets kicked out to say that he's making the biggest mistake of his life. Shows how highly she thinks of herself, doesn't it?

Not one of the greatest day I had today. My big boss is here from Msia for 2 days and I am getting a lot of pressure from Su and my boss. Worst thing is that my boss can't be direct and tell me herself what she expects me to do or improve upon. She must pass it down through Su which kinda closes up my communication channel with her. All the bullshit about "doors being open all the time......voice out any queries you have anytime". What crap.

Must make a more concerted effort to be on time tomorrow morning so I guess I'll try and sleep early tonight.

I have no idea why I persist in believing in people who don't deserve my trust, not once, not twice, not thrice, but countless time. I'm a fool.

I didn't have enough sleep last night and opted to lunch in today and stone (to those who don't understand, this means to chill out) with a copy of the latest 8 days. Did I mention I am a huge fan? Contemplated applying to be a writer not long ago but dropped the idea because I don't think I qualify. Hehe.

My usual lunch buddy, let's call her Su, dumped me for lunch and went for power lunch with the big shots. She did ask me along but like I said, I wasn't in the mood to PR. Even in normal circumstances, I don't really enjoy lunching with them too often because the conversations gets repetitive after a while. I would rather run errands and SHOP! Lots of shopping carts and stores around the area selling interesting knick knacks.

But regretted my decision slightly when I heard that they went to Tea House for dim sum. I love dim sum, especially the translucent Ha Kaos with fresh succulent prawns. yum yum. Oh well, just as well to diet a bit.

Sorry dear friends who have contributed so much to my blog with your precious comments. I changed to a new script and all your previous comments are wiped out. You can still assess them from the archives for now, I think.

Oh my gawd! Time flies, I didn't realise that my exams are next week! The textbooks and past year papers are still stacked on the spare table in my office. Guess I have some serious "mugging" to do this weekend. Urggghh, hate the idea of exams and don't think my boss will take to the idea of study leave too well. I can't afford to fail the 2 papers, literally! (Exam fees would come out of my own pocket if I fail)

Decided to play hookey and skip gym for today. Now stuck in the office waiting for my notebook to finish defragmenting. Something wrong with this antique machine, nowadays it can't even shut down properly. I have to do it the primitive way which is by by turning off its power supply.

And surfing the internet? It's soooooo slow, I can see the items appear one by one. When I am browsing and I can see the bosses walking my way to the photocopier, the normal reaction is to open up a word/ excel document immediately. In normal circumstances, by the time they are behind me, I should appearing to be working hard right? Not in this case. Sometimes when they pass, my screen would be showing a mixture of Excel headers and webpage contents. "Caught in the act". haha.

They should outlaw all systems older than Windows 2000 in companies! How do they expect a staff to be efficient when half the time, we are waiting for the computer to load? Maybe if I purposely smash up the notebook, they will buy me a new one. But one can only wish.

After discussion with Ms Workaholic, we have concluded that the other 2 yuppie single friends are Ms Sleepaholic and Ms Nic-aholic (which she might have objections to!).

I feel like my bones are disintegrating from the gym session. The pain we women go through to look good!

Oh, the nice saleslady from S & K is back from her holidays and called me to say that my hot pink dress is ready for collection! They did give me a bigger piece of chiffon in the end. So there really are advantages to being a fussy customer.

I learnt this through some cases in work too. The norm is that if you don't request, companies will not give benefits automatically. When you threaten to complain to the authorities, you get results. So, we cannot afford to be too nice or you will lose out. Sad, but true.

Boss has yet to open her mouth. I'm trying to lie low and finish my project asap at the moment.

Something for the gals out there:
Some things I have, some things I don't, some things I'm learning to do, but some things are easier said than done.........

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.one old love
she can imagine
going back to...
and one who reminds
her how far she has come...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.enough money within her
rent a place of her own
even if she never wants
to or needs to...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.something perfect to wear if
the employer or date of her dreams
wants to see her in an hour...

This I have, my HOT PINK DRESS!


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.a youth she's content
to leave behind...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.a past juicy enough that
she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.a set of screwdrivers, a
cordless drill, and a black
lace bra...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.one friend who always makes
her laugh... and one who lets
her cry...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.a good piece of furniture
not previously owned by anyone
else in her family...


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.eight matching plates, wine
glasses with stems, and a recipe
for a meal that will make her
guests feel honored..


A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE

.a feeling of control over
her destiny...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.how to fall in love without
losing herself...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend
without ruining the friendship...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.when to try harder... and
when to walk away...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.that she can't change the
length of her calves, the width
of her hips, or the nature of her
parents...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.that her childhood may not
have been perfect...but its
over...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.what she would and wouldn't
do for love or more...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.how to live alone... even if
she doesn't like it...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't
take it personally...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

.what she can and can't
accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

Once upon a time, a nice lady was strolling Orchard Road when she was approached by a teenage boy to fill up a survey for him, after which she can try her luck at a lucky draw. And guess what? She won the first prize of $1,000 worth of holiday voucher! According to the boy, there is only 1 top prize per mth and he can get a $50 reward if she follows him to the office and listen to a 1 hr talk, after which she will get her prize. Seeing that the boy looks very young to be working part-time and partly because of greed, she followed him to the talk.

Upon arrival at the office (which was full of other people attending the talk conducted by individual salespeople), she was served drinks and food by the salesperson. He started making friendly conversation and explaining the holiday program they have. Basically, you buy a membership for more than $10,000 and you get to go to the list of resorts around the world for a nominal fee.

When the lady explained to him that she wasn't interested, he keeps offering to talk to the manager and lower the price. And then he started being sarcastic that she can't even pay such a low amount.

1 hour became 2...3....4. It was only when she couldn't take it, signed up and paid a deposit of $300 that they let her out. Luckily, she was able to back out of the contract the next day. Unfortunately, the deposit has to be forfeited. But compared with some people who paid thousands in deposits, she was still considered lucky.

Point of the story is, even though this tactic has been highlighted on a TV program to warn people, I still see many of these "lucky" people cheated on the streets. I feel like going up to warn them of the scam, but there are simply too many of them! Isn't there anything consumers can do in the face of such high pressure sales tactics?

Back to the drudgery of work tomorrow. Have passed a deadline for a project (even though I did try my best this time) and might be facing some music soon. Sometimes I wonder why I persist continuing working in this line when it's obvious the job doesn't excite me. Not that the pay is fantastic. The only good thing I can think of is the job title, at least it sounds pro.

Oh yes, just to backtrack a bit. My alias came from a series of books titled
1) The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic;
2) Shopaholic Abroad; and
3) Shopaholic Ties the Knot
written by Sophie Kinsella. I can totally identify with the title character in the books. Not as incorrigible though, I must say in self-defence. Read them if you can, thoroughly lighthearted and entertaining (in my opinion).

And the group of yuppie friends I mentioned? They are Shopaholic (me), Workaholic, Sexaholic, Alcoholic etc. I can't remember what we came up with for the others, must go ask them again.

Was inspired to start my own blog after reading a "mouse's". I could never maintain the habit of keeping the diary, seeing that it all goes along the lines of......wake up, rush to school/ work......eat breakfast.....stone a bit.....pretend to be hardworking/ busy.......eat lunch.....stone.....wait for freedom i.e. 6:00pm.

Ain't that great with words either. So, please bear with me if I fail to use perfect vocabulary/ grammar. Which has been a point of contention among my group of single yuppie friends (4 gals + 1 boyfriend and 2 guys, at times, to be exact). " She doesn't/ she don't, she wins/ she won."

SAGA OF THE HOT PINK OUTFIT
The one time I couldn't resist indulging in my fave therapy this past few months (ok, the one MAJOR time) was the black/ hot pink S & K outfit I fell in love with at first sight. First thought, too ex and I can't afford it, told myself to walk away. Oh well, no harm trying it on to see whether it looks as great on me as I thought it would. Shucks! It's the most fantastic thing I've tried on in months (and that's a LOT of things I tried on).

Okok, I know I shouldn't, in view of the OD to clear and my resolution. But I did. Make the puchase, i mean. The top looks a bit tight, but this very nice saleslady assured me that she can make it look perfect. Trusted her, went back once, twice and finally third time, but there were minor imperfections in the alterations each time. Seeing the gigantic price tag, I wasn't ready to compromise.

The saga is to be continued. Pending now as the saleslady has sent it back to their factory seeing what they can do after my outburst that the many alterations has caused my pink chiffon to fray. Maybe they can give me the bigger piece of pink chiffon which I asked for in the first place but which they wanted me to pay for. haha, cheapo I know, but a gal has to do what an gal has to do.

Saleslady has gone on holiday and will be back next week. Will find out then.