Thursday, May 31, 2007

Reality Check

Too often our minds have been filled with a hunger for materialistic gains..
no thanks to advertising campaigns on the media and press and peer influence
Especially with the big 4 letter word ( S-A-L-E) looming in every corner of the streets and the pc show ongoing at suntec city, it seems our list of "wants" will never run dry.

Perhaps..

- Desires =

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

I'm stuck in a dilemma.

Here's the scenario:
A Fujitsu notebook distributor sets up a booth at PC show which hands its sales over to 4 different vendors. Of this one vendor which I work for takes up the least floorspace but instead hires about twice the no. of sales staff (~30 people) as compared to other 3 vendors'. Here's the deal..

1. No basic salary
2. $30 commission per notebook sold
3. $100 "bonus" once you sell above 10 notebooks.
4. $40 per notebook once you hit sales of 15 and above
5. Must be present throughout all 4 days of exhibition, else forfeit all commission

Promoting a niche notebook brand with 74 other promoters all hungry for sales.
Also against the likes of Lenovo, Dell, Acer, HP/Compaq, Asus, Sony, LG and not forgetting Apple.
Would you still go for it ?

In fact the company is pretty smart to go all out to hire infinite number of sales staff, cos after all there is no basic salary. Wouldn't you too agree the more they hire, the less chances of each hitting the "bonus" ?

Its not like I'm not up for competition. In fact ,I was pretty confident based on recent technical knowledge Iv gathered for my own notebook purchase and previous sales experience of the same notebook brand.

A company driven simply by revenues and doesn't spare a thought on the welfare of its staff, ain't one worth working for.

***
A big Hello to Mian*, a silent reader here

Sunday, May 27, 2007

So it seems I really have a problem with persistence.
one pack of cigarettes after another
gotta quit , gotta quit

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The Great Singapore Ride


Route:
> Departure @ 2330hrs
> Sio's nest at Eng Neo
> Orchard for rendezvous with TH @ 0100hrs
> Selegie for prata(read: soggy) and mee goreng
> Stopover at Esplanade, Padang ,One Fullerton for some camera whoring
> Shenton Way and across the heart of CBD
> Harbourfront - Vivo City & St James (more cam whoring)
> Tanjong Pagar Railway Stn
> Labrador Park - that haunted house & strange minah encounter
> TH's nest at Alexandra & pit stop at 7-11.. time check: 0445hrs
> Holland Village, Sio takes the 6th ave route home
> Clementi, Sunset Way - as I struggle alone through a series of slopes
> Upper Bt Timah Road
> RTU @ 0545hrs

Lots more pictures coming up

Friday, May 25, 2007

Advice of the day

Don't be lured by the classified ads' gimmicks like "$80 per day + commission"
Always check before hand on the products you're selling.
Else you'll end up like me - blindly heading for a interview to promote magazine subscriptions on maternity and parenthood. Standing in a room with 4 other girls answering questions like how to go about convincing potential mothers and newly weds.
:S

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Thought of the day

Quote from ST, Home:

" Those Singaporeans who gave up places at NUS and NTU for a place at UNSW Asia - where tuition fees are four times higher - are also in the bind "

To give up on a local schools of no lower prestige + no overseas exposure + 4 times of local tuition fees.. Seriously, would anyone be sane enough to do that ?

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Today I cleared my last hurdle in National Service
12km sprint in the darkness prior to sun rise..
probably the first and last experience of such



..finally a recognition I can be proud of
plus its awarded by the Chief of Army ! :D

Monday, May 21, 2007

My skeptical nature has created much redundant complications

Here's a catchy song to kick start your week !

Republica - Ready to Go

Sunday, May 20, 2007

"The selling point of the product is the product itself"

If that is really so, why do fashion labels endorse top celebrities and models to market their goods ?
How did the Ipod managed to attain cult status and outsell their counterpart creative products ?
Why do mass selling car companies from the likes of Toyota, Honda and Renault participate in Formula 1 ?

I'm not saying that quality of products wouldn't sell at all, but its the marketing and exposure of the product itself to the masses thats captures the consumers' awareness .. and that my dear, generates revenue.

snort.
I guess staying home not working for the entire week makes a weekend seem just like another weekday .. or vice versa.
Least I made it a tad more meaningful by submitting a couple of job requests, read some papers and attempted on a 500 word essay - which I only completed 150 or so words. I desperately need more zest and inspiration for that 350 more tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Monday Blues

The existence of my 6 year old Fujitsu suddenly came into light - it must have been laying there for almost 2 years since the last time I caught a glimpse of it, aka before enlistment to national service. But its a really wonder to have survived all this while without a single glitch. Thinking back, the only time I used it intensively was during my first semester undergoing a stupid course known as Engineering Informatics (Engineering + Info tech == no link) in Ngee Ann. Then it served as a backup terminal mainly for music and surfing purposes. It also went though a stint of free-of-charge loan to several friends -3 to be exact- and it came back loaded with several foreign documents as well as a small collection of music, pictures of hunks and porn clips even. Anyways its all history now. I posted a small ad on HWZ in the morning and struck the deal in the late afternoon for a not to shabby $380. I have earned back my phone :))

Dinner was a hurried double fish fillet in the company of Amsie at the cinema. It was a very good light hearted romantic comedy, in French. And James reckons anything in french has a tinge of art, even if it means airing on theaters island wide.

Hors de Prix (Priceless):

Official Site / Review

Sunday, May 13, 2007

week in review

Just the significant events:

Monday was beer day with an emotional yet ever amusing Nick with his friend Pauline. $13++ for 1 litre of Erdinger @ Baden's happy hr !

Tuesday was wake day where we paid respects to CSM's deceased father, also a perfect opportunity for the camp guys to get together.

Wednesday was a frantic 16km run @ Safti live firing area, which I barely survived.

Thursday was R&R (Recluse and Recuperate).

Friday was iconic since it marks the day I end my misery to having live with an antique phone, and to put up with the temptation of every telco's advertisements for the past 365 days !! Quek was there to witness the commission ceremony, followed by a stroll around Central, The Cannery, and Raffles place. Oh, and how could I forget the articulate salesgirl with a tinge of brit accent.

Saturday was about sweating the calories out at Bodypump, followed by dinner at a niche and cosy HK cafe. But the highlight of the evening was the introduction of TH's girlfriend or should I say.. "to be or not to be" girlfriend. (I hope she ain't reading this). Hot topic of the day was Wong's close shave with < 100m away from the crash site overwhelming the news of hosting Formula 1 on our local shores. Sad to say, my efforts at the gym too, was overshadowed by late night prata and nescafe.

Sunday - usually the most dreadful of all days of the week turned out to be rather eventful. A cruise around Sentosa Cove, friskbee under the sunsetting Tanjong beach and a satisfying yet wallet friendly dinner @ Alexandra Village.

A week of freedom couldn't get more enriching than this

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Here's some demo pictures I took with my newly acquired Nokia 6300.
..wanted to go for a slide show actually, but the service is currently down





***

On another note, I'm just relieved to hear that our dear friend is all safe and sound. My sincere condolences to the other 2 brave national servicemen, whom sacrificed their lives in this tragic accident.

Friday, May 11, 2007

It's driving me crazy ..
I can't resist this temptation anymore !

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

fetish for the topless


..even more enthralling .. tanned in a shade of mocha brown

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Just a recap on the Wallaby trip @ Queensland, Rockhampton:



The improvised showering system ..
1. You start by filling up a plastic pail from a 1 of 2 centralised tap in the toilet.
2. Transfer the water into the big shower pouch.
3. Repeat step 1 and 2 till your desired amt of water.. depending on the timing, chances are you will need to queue for the tap.
4. With a rope attached to the pouch, one has to raise the pouch to a certain height by tugging the rope and loop it on a hook attached to the wall. Assistance may be required if u ain't strong enough.
5. By turning the shower knob at the bottom, you can adjust the flow of water.

..Amatures and hygiene freaks out of water had to repeat the entire process.

Friday, May 04, 2007

fri ramblings

I'm writing this purely to kill boredom.. on a friday late evening.
As the hour hits 12 - marks the 6th day of my suffering thanks to this terrible, highly infectious flu/dry couth/sore throat thats claimed the fate of three innocent victims stranded in corolla whilst cuising along esplanade drive. And since wong is already on route to taiwan, I can rightfully put all these blame upon him knowing the chances of him blowing up a storm over my accusations here is Nil.

Seeing there's a whole lot of things to do, one has to prioritize, to sort what is "required" from the "desired". Just a scribble of the list of things to do in the coming months.. in no order of importance : gym, run, ord clearance, read papers, study photography, learn essay writing, nus seminar tmr 3-5pm, tennis, more nus adminstrative stuff including hall registration, orientation camps, travel before sch starts, buy handphone, buy D40, find temp job, force myself to read Time magazine, return to unit twice a week, tiger trail, read rara's philosophy pdf, learn warrants, take part in warrant hotshot, catch up with nick/berty/wenpiao, recover from flu.

lol. this must have been the most messy "unscripted" post ever .

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Once again.. I'm amused by Quek's malicious plots, proven real.

First, it was the anticipation of an ingenious, or rather unsporting attempt of Michael Schumacher's car parking incident at Monaco F1 qualifying - with time running out and currently on pole position, he "accidentally" pulled his car to stop on a narrow corner to block rival(s) from outpacing him.

Next was a near mirror like , word for word example of how al fresco bars / eateries should compensate the customers in the case of wet weather scenarios:

When it rains, we pour
1 for 1 drinks by the glass whenever the splatter is hitting The Loof

*rain must start before 9pm, not applicable during events