Well, hello here blog. And hello here, Aussie entry, which I started weeks ago and left half done for ages. I'm blogging in detail because this is a trip I want to remember forever. Blogging allows me to include pictures while my diary doesn't. It is quite inconvenient to print out pictures and stick them in my diary alongside the words.

I'm free today because I'm home.

I'm home because I'm hot

...literally.

Because I have a high fever

So... if you are reading this, it is another epic entry!

If you need a refresher of the chapter before this, go here:
http://rubyrubberband.xanga.com/708227659/aussie-grad-trip-chapter-2/

Aussie Travel Blog

Chapter 3 - Sydney day 3 (I wanted to put day 4 and 5 together in this entry too but it's too long!)

Something I forgot to add in the last entry:

We took the last ferry from The Gap back to Sydney city. We had to buy our ferry tickets but we didn't have change. We only had $50 notes! So... we fed the machine those notes and it gave us around $90 in change. After that, look what happened:


HAHAHAHAH. We cleaned it out of change!! The next poor fellow will have to give exact change!

Monday, 08/06/09

I borrowed boots from Ster and I felt really pretty! I'm sorry I sound so bimbotic but it was the first time I ever wore boots and I was really excited. It was most definitely a case of wanting what I could not have. I have the same problem with scarves, coats and basically any winter wear. What a novelty they are to any girl from the equator! So I really couldn't help getting excited over the boots.


They are fake Uggs. I'll be more excited if they were real but they were pretty and comfy all the same!! Sometimes I forget how horrible I felt when it was cold and I wish for Singapore to be cold enough so I can wear boots. I suddenly feel all deprived. I'm a shoeholic without a single boot in my collection. I feel like a failure already.

On Sunday night, we had tried to enter the casino but failed because I didn't have my passport with me and the guy at the door thought my Singapore IC was some sucky counterfeit identification. He gave me a funny look. I think it was partly because the photo on my IC was taken when I was 15. You can hardly recognise that's me. So we tried again on Monday morning, and this time, I felt better prepared because:

1) I had my passport with me
2) I was better dressed, or at least I felt I was, simply because of the boots. (the casino looks glamorous and being the vainpot I am, I always feel better when I dress pretty.)

On our way to the casino...









We got into the casino successfully this time, but pictures weren't allowed.

I think the casino management has some funny ideas about how to run a casino because Ster has a membership card. (What kind of casino gives membership cards to 23 year old fresh graduates with not a penny to their name?) I'm not complaining though because the membership card entitled us to some free drinks. (only vending machine drinks but it was better than nothing)

Fang and me did not want to do anything more than wander randomly around and stare at the jackpot machines. I've never seen one in real life before.

Ster had other ideas. She decided to gamble, but limited herself to $40. I couldn't remember the name of the game she played. Anyway, I think Fang and me are a pair of jinxes. Ster claimed that she usually would walk away winning some money. But that day, she lost the full $40 she put on the table.

Some Chinese/Hk/Taiwanese (I couldn't tell which) tourist lady at the same table won tons of money. She was obviously rich because she simply threw $100 on the table every round. After Ster reached the limit of $40 that she had set for herself, we left.

Outside the casino, we saw... Limousines!! I've never seen a limousine in real life before, because they are not allowed in Singapore. I don't understand why. I've heard rumours that the reason they are not allowed here is because our island is tiny and our roads are tiny and congested so limous are a hazard on the roads, given their length. But I don't think our roads are exceptionally more narrow than other big cities. And we have plenty of buses!! We even have those special buses that are 2 buses connected together!! Are they not a hazard then?

The trip was quickly turning into a "things that are common in other big cities that are banned in Singapore - Spot them!" trip.


I would prefer a purple limou. Or the one in ANTM cycle... 12 I think. It had a pink checkered pattern!! Very Barbie-fied Burberry!!


The other limous - shorter ones. Not too impressive.

We left the casino and headed for the place Fang-the-sashimi-freak has been looking forward to going to since foooooorrrrrrreeeevvvvvveeeerrr.

Sydney Fish Market!!

On our way there...


Aussie people love nice cars. We saw a lot of nice cute vintage cars while we were there!!


Our reflection in the window of a restaurant. No we were not acting like fools photographing our reflection while diners inside the restaurant look out at us. The restaurant was closed. Maybe because it was a public holiday?


Super nice street. So pretty and peaceful.


Yet another novelty for me. Singaporean leaves do not turn orange like this!!


Can you spot the super colourful wild Rainbow Lorikeet (a breed of parrot)??


I've decided I love the way trees look in winter.

Sydney Fish Market is quite a fascinating place really. It's basically the place where the daily catch of seafood comes in and awaits distribution to the supermarkets. So, if you come here for seafood, you are assured of the freshest!! I can see why Fang and Ster like this place. It's cheaper and fresher than the seafood you get in supermarkets.

I was keen to visit the fish market, but wasn't that keen on the food, to be honest. I'm not a big fan of seafood. I don't eat anything that has a shell that can open and close - i.e. mussels, clams, scallops etcetc. I do eat seafood with shells that are firmly attached to their bodies - i.e. prawns and crabs. I don't know why, but seafood with shells that can open and close gives me tummy troubles. I also don't eat them raw. So I don't eat salmon when it's a sashimi, but I love pan fried salmon. These preferences significantly reduced the food available to me at the fish market.


We were first greeted by a row of crazy, hungry gulls perched on a truck in the carpark.


They were on the building too. See the ibis??!! I was quite excited because again, I've never seen an ibis before. It was like discovery channel up close and personal.




We took some photos before entering the market.


Al fresco dining by the waterfront!! It would have been nicer if there weren't hungry seagulls trying to snatch your food. Ster asked if we would prefer to sit indoors, away from the gulls but I was pretty sure I wanted to try sitting outside, despite the gulls because the weather was so nice and it was beautiful outside!


Inside the fish market...


There were tons of people!!


The stall that sells COOKED seafood. Ahhh. that's more like it. I ordered a seafood platter from here. All cooked.


Scallops and giant crab legs. hmmmm I love crab legs.


Things that I don't eat.


Look at the catch!


Awww. This reminds me of my pet crayfish. He died last October. Heh I miss you! He is also the reason I don't eat lobsters anymore. They look so much like crayfishes. Obviously, I don't eat crayfishes anymore because I see them as pets.

We found a seat outside, under one of those tables with a big umbrella... whatever you call that. I'm sure it has a name but I can't remember.


Fang and Ster's sashimi!! They raved about it so I tried a piece of it. Can't say I've changed my mind about sashimi but it was the best I've ever eaten. Still, raw fish is too slimy and cold for my taste.

We also had a seafood platter (majority of which ended in my tummy) and a platter of oysters. Out of curiosity, I ate raw oysters for the first time in my life. And EWWWWWWWWWW. Can I just say, NEVER AGAIN? It was just a slab of slime. Seriously. Why does everyone love it?

While eating, we had to deal with crazy gulls that were waiting for that moment when you turn and they can swoop in for your food.


They were perched on top of the umbrella. I could hear their footsteps above me while I ate *shudder*


They were circling the skies above the outdoor dining area.


They were waiting on the grass beside our seats.

Sharing the grass with the seagulls were some locals, who seem to like sitting on the grass while enjoying a seafood picnic.


We spotted this cute little doll-like toddler. Omg. I so want to pinch her fat cheeks.


And walking around the edge of her picnic mat was this cute little boy with cool sunglasses.


And they hooked up!! Haha. They look so cute together!!

After our lunch, we set off for Sydney Uni, Ster's school!! On the way there...


Old buildings!! Me loooove!


Fang took a pic of me taking a pic.

 
I really really like bare trees.


Near where we saw the above tree, we saw this notice pasted on another tree. Haha so funny. They have proposals to remove trees!! That would never happen in Singapore. Read it. It's hilarious! They even give you the contact person and a number to call if you want to protest against the tree's removal.


According to Ster, this is one of the steepest roads in Sydney.


Pretty flowerbed beside a petrol station!!


Fang took this ultra nice pic!


I love this pic! The angle is kinda arty.


I freaking love Aussie streets.

I think we got bubble tea somewhere near this street. Aussie bubble tea... isn't very nice.


Nearer to Sydney Uni


The uni is like a park. Such a pretty campus. NUS, I give you all that money and where did it all go?? To ugly grey industrial style buildings!!


This scene makes me sigh. It's soooo pretty. I can just imagine moving back in time... to the Victorian era. Some ladies in pretty long dresses and giant hats decorated with elaborate feathers and flowers sitting under the tree on a picnic mat. There will be a few tall dark and handsome guys in super smart suits with little bow ties. A white horse would be tied to the tree and it would be drinking from the pond!!


Two of my bestest friends. You can see the famous Sydney Uni building in the background!

 
Approaching the bridge...


We saw crazy gulls again. Seriously. Is there anywhere in Sydney that isn't their playground??


Well. Hello you!


Nevermind about the seagull. Look how pretty it is!! If my campus is as pretty as this, I would be valedictorian. Um. Or maybe I'll spend too much time having picnics and tanning on the grass and I would flunk out of school.


I looked down and saw... an ibis!! Probably looking for fish.


We are now closer to the main part of the campus, where the faculties are.


We took pictures standing in the middle of the road. We jumped left or right whenever a car came by, depending on whether the car was coming down the left or right lane. Risking our lives for the sake of a few pictures -_-


Closer...


And closer!!


I love it!! It's so Harry Potter-esque. It's like a castle. Like Hogwarts! All I need is Harry Potter flying around in the sky on a broom stick!!


I love Love LOve LOVe LOVE the Aussie sky!!

How pretty is this. Doesn't it make you want to enrol in Sydney Uni?

I know I'm starting to sound very excitable with all my exclamation marks and all the "love" I keep typing but I simply love everything that I saw!!


Studying in the sun...


Ster says the yellowish building material is called sandstone. We also saw it later in Blue Mountains. It is also used all over Sydney city for all the older buildings. I decided sandstone is my favourite building material. Haha. Who has a favourite building material? What a weird thing to have a favourite of!

I really really like the yellowish old buildings because they are soooo classic, so literary... so castle-ish. It looks like the setting of a Virginia Woolf novel... or where the 4 sisters from Little Women had a picnic... OR... MAYBE a Bertha Mason was once hidden in one of the lonely rooms at the tallest part of the building!! OOOOOOOOO!! I love historic buildings because of the mystery within the walls. You don't know what they have seen over the years. 


How romantic looking is this? Even leaf litter looks good here. Wouldn't you all love to have a campus like this?


I know I've said this before but I love bare winter trees.


A newer building extension that doesn't go with the rest of the nice romantic sandstone buildings. Yuks.

We walked on... and we saw...


Ster's faculty!! It's Pharmacy!! How quaint is that building? It looks like some kind of old hospital or clinic!

I really like the way it looks!! I wish Singapore would have more interesting architecture rather than keep building modern skyscrapers or odd shaped stuff with glass.

So after we've seen most of Sydney Uni, we decided to catch a bus and go to coogee beach. Remember that I am wearing boots that day. Boots to the beach? Absurb! I looked so odd. Even though it's winter, there were still a few locals in bikinis. They are crazy. It's cold! Well, to me anyway because I'm a truly tropical girl. Anything below 25 degrees Celcius is cold to me.


Coogee Beach


Obligatory seagull tracks. They have cute looking footprints!!


We went up a little cliff for an aerial view of the beach.


The winter sky in Aussie always turns out exceptionally good in photos. Here, the clouds look like they are zooming past in high speed!!

I know it is due to the angle of the sun or something. Scott Schuman from http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/ explained exactly why in one of his entries in either April or May 2009. He was in Aussie about a month before I went and in his pictures, the sky was gorgeous too.


Lone ranger atop a cliff. Haha.

We went down those steps and this is what the cliff looks like from a lower angle:


Geography lesson in real life!

On the cliff:


I could see people swimming... How do they do that? It's cold!




It is a nice view...


And a nice place to think...


The cliff was made up of an interesting rock...


Close up of the rock. It had layers. I wish my Geog teacher was there to explain things to me.


Us on the cliff.


We walked a little and there was this bay within the beach called Gordon's Bay.

We discovered a quiet spot.




How cute. Little wooden boats!


We saw the moonrise. The moon was HUUUUUGE. It was beautiful.


Speaking of moonrises, here's a pic Ster took at The Gap the previous day of our trip. Nice shot huh?

We then took a bus to China Town for dinner!


Here's my dish: beef and bell peppers in black bean sauce and rice! It was very yummy.

Next, it was the train station...


Outside the train station


Inside the station. I love it! So old! I love old buildings.


Cityrail Network
                                                                            
The tunnel

   
The train

We alighted somewhere (I can't remember the road names or train stops in Aussie) to see the light show. It's some outdoor light festival going on around The Rocks and Circular Quay. Remember how I complained in my previous Aussie chapter about the puke coloured Sydney Opera House? That was the result of this light festival!

Be prepared for more horrors up ahead...




Sydney Opera House in Blue, Turquoise and Red respectively. The first two pictures were taken top-down when we took a walk across Harbour Bridge and the las was taken from Circular Quay.


Museum of Contemporary Art in Gotham City style (according to Ster)

    
Museum of Contemporary Art in Algae and Monster Slime. 

   
Museum of Contemporary Art in Burning Down.


An underpass at Argyle Street. This display was actually quite cool. At least it isn't ugly.


And the best display of all is this! It's an interactive exhibit with colourful milk crates. You move the milk crates and the light projection on the wall changes!! So if you move the orange crate in front of the light source, you get a more orange pattern! Same goes for the other colours. The pattern was very hypnotising. It's like looking into a kaleidoscope. We jumped and waved our hands and moved the milk crates around for quite a while and attracted funny stares from people. Haha. Ster did a video of me acting stupid with the exhibit but STER YOU HAVEN'T PASSED IT TO ME!

And this last part is taken from Ster's FB pic caption. She tracked how far we walked that day:

Sydney City -> Star City (the casino) -> Fish Market -> Sydney Uni -> Newtown --(Bus to Central, then to Coogee)-- Coogee -> Clovelly (Bus to Central) Railway Square -> Chinatown -> Central Station (Train to Wynyard) Wynyard Station -> Clarence St (Bus to Milsons Point) -> Milsons Point -> The Rocks (via Harbour Bridge) ->Circular Quay -> Opera House -> Circular Quay.

And finally I got back home to my best friend, Heater.


I've missed her the whole, cold day out.

I shall end my epic entry here. Blogging this makes me feel like travelling again!!

I've never been a big consumer of sausages. In my opinion, they are usually too dry. They make me thirsty. If they happen to be juicy, it's usually gross, salty juice. The saltiness contributes to my thirstiness. I need to drink tons of water every time I consume a sausage.

Nevertheless, I think there may be a nice sausage in the world that I would like. I just haven't found it yet. The Brits aren't exactly famous for their sausages. Neither are the Americans. I know the Germans are supposed to have the best sausages in the world. I Wiki-ed and the site has 22 pages on German sausages. That's a big variety.

Interestingly, there is even one called Blood Tongue sausage.

Now... Doesn't that sound tempting? Haha.

A random thought...

How does a raw sausage taste like? Do you think it could be a delicacy like sashimi is? On second thought, I've never been a big fan of raw food or sashimi.

Sausages always sound so nice in the pan... They sizzle and spittle and they smell delicious. Cooking them before chewing on them sounds like a better idea.

You've been gone a month. Our nightly phone calls have turned into nightly Skype chats. While I'd obviously prefer to have you back here again, I wish you'll stay there longer.

Because I know it's your dream and because I want to see you make something of yourself. I know it's been hard and you haven't been very happy but you are stubborn, thick skinned and smart and I think you'll come through.

So don't come back. Stay there long enough for me to save up and go visit you. You promised me a tour.



Till then, I'll indulge in my masks alone.

What's interesting this week at work?

Tuesday

We were scheduled to do November issue's cover shoot with a nine month old baby. As scheduled, they arrived at around 11am. As scheduled, they were brought to the studio for the shoot. What was unscheduled was the baby falling asleep...

for FIVE hours.

I was very amused that an infant could control a whole office of adults simply by falling asleep.

All we could do was wait for her to wake up. In the meantime, we wrote our articles. Her falling asleep meant that our photoshoot was pushed back to later that day (whenever she wakes up), which means the other photoshoots scheduled to take place in that studio had to be pushed back too. Because of the delay, several magazines are now behind schedule and the other studios were fully booked for the whole of this week as we all scrambled to catch up and reschedule our shoots.

The 9 month old Nazi effectively stopped Singapore's largest publishing house from functioning properly for a day and she didn't even need a strategy.

Friday

I went for an event about the benefits of eating whole grains yesterday. It was nothing remarkable until the second part of the programme, when a chef demonstrated cooking with whole grains. We all got to taste his creations after that. OMG caramelised bananas are heavenly!! I get paid to eat yummy food cooked by a famous chef. I love my job.

Well. That's all. I also managed to meet all my deadlines for the week with only an hour's OT on Wednesday so yay!!

Prologue

My first day at work was good. In fact, very good.

My dinner today was very good too, because it was 90% dessert.

I was actually expecting the typical boring first day doing nothing but sitting at my desk reading through old issues of the magazine or making the rounds saying hi to everyone and introducing myself. Instead, I got a full day of actual work and I'm very happy about that.

Let me start at the beginning.

6.00am - wake up. Yes. I had to wake up that early because I'm a dawdler. I could probably skip breakfast, eat on the go and get more sleep but I feel faint if I don't eat something immediately upon waking. I also hate to rush when eating. It makes me feel sick so I enjoyed my food while reading a book, as I always do and nothing, not even a lack of sleep can make me forgo this comfortable morning routine.

6.40am - finish breakfast and went into the shower. Told you I'm a dawdler.

7.20am - done with shower. DAWDLER!

7.22am - began my beauty routine (dress up, accessorise, try to tame hair, spend 10mins putting on my makeup which, as usual, consists only of mascara (yes I use 10mins just for mascara. What's a dawdler to do?), slapped on body moisturiser, pat on face moisturiser, eye cream etcetc)

OOTD (it's an important day in my life so I wanna remember what I wore for the day)


I know usually in publishing, anything goes as long as you don't turn up in the office in a bikini, shorts and slippers. But it was my first day and first impressions count. Plus, I wasn't sure if SPH was like the rest of the publishing houses since it is huge. I thought should there be a dress code, I'd better be in something that would transcend all dresscodes. A dress of decent length is always office appropriate and always a good choice if you are unsure. I love the print on this one.


The dress was already very girly and sweet. Usually, I dislike going all-out sweet. Normally, I would have worn edgier gladiator heels (YES! I finally got a pair!) to edge-up the look. But since I wasn't sure if gladiator heels are ok for SPH, I went the safe route. I was contemplating grey heels but I hate going all matchy-matchy. So I broke the colour palette and went for nude shoes instead.

I completed my outfit with the black bag CF gave me for my birthday, a black cropped cardigan and big white hoop earrings.

7.59am - rushed out the door.

8.53am - alighted from the super crowded bus

8.54am - discovered I had alighted THREE STOPS too early. Stared morosely at the back of the bus as it rambled slowly out of sight.

8.55am - rolled eyes at self. Of course I HAD to do this. I cannot, just for once in my life, have a good sense of direction.

8.56am - began a half run-walk, trying to cover the distance of 3 bus stops in 4 mins. I had to be in by 9am! It was uphill. I suddenly felt thankful for all the jogging I make myself do.

9.03am - arrived at the guard house, where I was supposed to obtain a temporary employee pass which I have to make do with while they make me a proper one. Security guard was pecking at the keyboard with 2 fingers. Cleared throat. Security guard continued to peck at keyboard sloooooowly. Said "Erm hello?" Security guard growled "WAIT LA WAIT LA WAIT LA!". How rude. Stared sullenly at him while he continued to peck agonisingly slowly at the keyboard. Stare slowly turned into a glare. Glare very quickly turned into death rays. He didn't die.

9.09am - ran through the door while dialling the editor's number. The HR girl told me she was on leave today so instead of reporting to HR first and doing everything in order (Sign contract, orientation, meet and greet everyone etc), I was to skip the whole HR thing and call my editor. She didn't pick up.

9.10am - got a message from her "call you back later. I'm driving"

9.11am - was very very very relieved. I was 10 mins late but I'm not really late since I'm earlier than my boss!! Haha!

9.13am - editor breezed through the doors. My day has properly started.

Meeting the Alien

After a brief introduction to the place, (toilet, pantry, saying hi to everyone who matters) she showed me my desk. After a while, Someone came (can't recall her name!) and gave me a stack of past issues to read up and familiarise myself with. I was also given a temporary password and username to login to the computer.

Up till now, I haven't really looked at the computer.

After I got the password and username, I finally bestowed some attention upon the sleek, flat thing occupying the most of the space on my desk but which had so far escaped my attention because I was so busy greeting people and looking around my new environment and -

oh crap I see a bitten apple.

It adorns that famous alien machine known as a Mac.

Now, I am NOT a techie girl. The most important thing to me, and I'm not embarrassed to admit this as bimbotic and typically girly as it may sound, is that my gadgets are:

1) SMALL
2) SLIM
3) pretty

I don't care about the functions as long as I can go online, chat on MSN and type stuff in MS word. All computers can do that so any computer will do as long as it is gorgeous.

So. I don't care about Mac because they insist on making their computers clinically white. BORING.

I'm not a complete idiot. I've fiddled with CF's Macbook. I can type in a web address in the browser that he has already opened for me and I know to close a window, you go to the round red button at the top LEFT corner instead of a square button on the right.

That's it. That's all I've ever needed to know. Writers don't usually need to know how to use a Mac. All the good stuff we need is in our grey matter and the only tool we need to conjure them up is MS word on a PC. Mac is for the visual whores - the layout artists and the graphic designers. But I guess SPH is so rich, they decided to buy everyone a sleek, inch thick flat screen gadget so the whole office is compatible.

I stared dully at the alien machine for a minute.

I looked under my desk for a CPU.

There was none.

I looked at the alien, searching visually for a button I can push so it would come to life.

I saw none.

I felt around it's edges for the life-giving button.

I felt none.

I stared daggers at it, willing it to turn on, somehow.

It remained dead.

I turned to the associate editor, who was sitting beside me. "Erm, how do you turn on a Mac?"

"There's a button at the back at the bottom."

I looked behind.

I spotted that tiny button.

I jabbed it.

The alien came to life.

I went back to reading past issues of the magazine because I didn't want to deal with the alien yet.

Panic attacks (minor ones)

The editor came over a little later and gave me a press invite to a conference tomorrow, 23rd Sept. It was a conference about ADHD in children. A Dr Daniel Fung would be there to give a talk about ADHD and how the Health Promotion Board is going to educate the general public, parents and teachers about ADHD. I was told to cover the event, talk to the doctor and find a new angle for an ADHD related article.

I was supposed to go ALONE.

I nodded and said ok to everything the editor said but internally, I was screeching "tomorrow is only my 2nd day!! I wasn't expecting this!!" The slight panic was only because I was expecting, like I've mentioned above, a kinda honeymoon period doing nothing much.

I also had to come up with a list of (obviously intelligent) questions to ask the Dr at the conference tomorrow. I was to run them by the editor before the end of the day.

A perk to this?

I don't have to wake up at 6am tomorrow!! The editor said I could cover the event before going to the office. The event starts at 11am. Which means I get to sleep till 8am. Ok. That is still too early for me because I have owlish tendencies but it's better than 6am!

I started researching on ADHD.

11am - Everyone was called into an editorial meeting, including me. They weren't excluding me just because I am a newcomer. Everyone was given a timeline which shows the deadlines when certain articles are supposed to be in. I saw my name beside quite a few (although admittedly short) articles. Another panic attack (of the minor kind) ensued. I was very quickly learning that there is no such thing as a honeymoon period in SPH.

I was expecting a honeymoon period NOT because I am lazy and unwilling to start work, but because I thought I would have time to settle down and get used to things. However, it seems I am being thrown into the deep end and expected to swim. I'm not complaning. I love that the editor deems me capable enough not to need the adjustment period.

11.30am - meeting ended. I spent the next hour reading up on ADHD.

12.30pm - I went out sourcing with the associate editor after having lunch. This is my favourite part of the job. Basically, it involves us tramping around shopping malls, entering shops, flashing our media cards, raiding the stores, then leave with the items that caught our fancy without paying a single cent while the shopkeeper looks on, smiling.

All this for the product pages where we feature products and the fashion spreads where we put the fashion on the models. Shops always oblige because its free publicity for them to have their products feature in magazines.

3.00pm - returned to office. Editor came over for a quick chat about some other articles I had to do. I also have to coordinate a photoshoot tomorrow. You get what I mean about having no honeymoon period?

A mini-war with the alien

I then had a minor fight with the alien on my desk.

I hovered my mouse over the icons at the bottom of the page until I found MS Word. I was surprised it didn't take more effort to find MS Word.

I typed out my list of questions I wanted to ask the Dr tomorrow, plus some basic info I found on ADHD. I wanted to bold the subtitles but couldn't find any toolbar on my MS Word document page. I stared dully at the alien. Again.

I stared for another minute before I finally saw the toolbar at the top left corner. What the hell is it doing there in that obscure corner? It is supposed to be right on my MS Word document! I mean, it is meant to format what I have typed on MS Word right? That is so not an instinctive place to put the MS Word toolbar!

5.00pm - finished coming up with a list of intelligent questions to ask Dr Fung tomorrow. Had a meeting with the editor to talk about it. She also went through the whole magazine with me, telling me about the different sections, how they get advertorials, what the readers like most etcetc.

5.52pm - got out of meeting with editor. Was surprised time passed so fast. Read three pages of recipes in one of the past issues.

Yet another mini-war

6.05pm - decided I could legitimately leave without looking like I was too eager to leave on the dot.

6.06pm - started another staring match with the alien. How do you shut this thing down?

6.07pm - hovered my mouse everywhere, reading the words that pop up that tell me what each button/icon is for.

6.09pm - had hovered over all visible icons and buttons. None says "shut down".

6.10pm - spotted a tiny bitten apple in the top left corner. Hovered suspiciously.

6.11pm - no words pop up. Perhaps the bitten apple is just for vanity's sake. Useless.

6.12pm - clicked on bitten apple suspiciously. A drop down list appeared. Eyes zoomed to "shut down". AHA!! Experienced immediate Eureka moment.

6.13pm - alien sent to sleep. I said bye to everyone in my vicinity and left.

The celebratory dinner

I was in a super good mood because my first day at work was good and fruitful. I couldn't wait to meet Mark, who was also having his first day of work. What a coincidence! We had decided to have dinner together as a mini celebration for us starting work on the same day.

The associate editor had told me there is a free shuttle bus the company provides that brings us to the train station. She had vaguely told me where to wait for it. I went to the carpark she had told me about, and saw an obvious waiting crowd.

The bus came quickly and I reached City Hall in record time. Mark and I didn't know what to eat. We both didn't have cravings. We finally settled for Crystal Jade. As usual, I was happy to have xiao long bao. I also ordered za jiang mian only to realise that I was craving for something not quite so heavy. I ate only half my bowl of noodles. We clinked glasses (ice water for me and hot chinese tea for him) and toasted to our (hopefully) successful careers.

Dessert

After dinner, we went in search of ice cream. I spotted Haato, which sells Japanese gelato. I've heard tons about this ice cream place but never tried it. I usually go for Azabu Sabo's green tea ice cream. Haato's green tea ice cream was good, but not as good as Azabu Sabo's. I had a medium sized cup.

In commemoration of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Haato also has these new, mochi-like desserts that are actually heart-shaped snow skin moon cakes filled with gelato! They looked sooooooooo pretty!! Because we were in a celebratory mood, we decided we had to try it. I got two - raspberry sorbet and mango flavours while Mark got the rock melon flavour.



We ate our ice cream and our unconventional mooncakes while watching the fountain. at Suntec perform its laser dance.

My day was perfect.

Epilogue

Everyone was really wonderful and kind to me today. The editor is a really nice person and was really patient with all my questions. I did try to ask intelligent questions but given my inexperience in a big publishing company, there are alot more little details and processes that I've never experience before with the smaller publishing houese I was with. I am sure I asked some really lame questions without knowing it.

The associate editor was also really very sweet. She tried to make conversation, tried to make me feel comfortable and there weren't awkward moments between us while we were eating lunch together. She's really easy to talk to and went above her call of duty - she told me about the shuttle bus, tried to give me a mini (verbal) orientation because the HR wasn't here today to do it.

I am currently very very happy and I should go to sleep because after only one night of (very slightly) earlier sleep, I'm reverting back to my owlish ways again. This cannot do.

HELLLOOOOOO SPH!!!!

*jumps around*
*screams*
*goes crazy*
*hyperventilates*
*gets very high*

*gets VERY VERY VEEEERRRRRRRRYYY HIGH*

Yours truly will be starting work at her dream job come 22nd September!