Why I love my job - The eleven perks of being a full-time RA

1) 0900, 0930, 1000, 1130 - my decision

2) 1700, 1730, 1745, 1800, 1830 - also my decision

3) Exclusive staff lounge with free teh tarik, hot chocolate and coffee (oh, and a view of the lovely harbour)

4) Lunch at 1100, 1200, 1400, 1600 - my decision

5) Two-hour lunch/tea breaks

6) Unrestricted access to MSN, YouTube, and..... Facebook

7) Afternoon movies at VivoCity (although I've only done it twice :p)

8) My very own office with my name on the door, AND a telephone all to myself

9) Satisfactory salary

10) A wonderful boss

11) Being able to blast Class 95/YES 933 at a decent volume :p

... If only I could do this all my life. Research, read, write, research, go to the library, research, photocopy, print, attend conferences, type, edit. I'm afraid my very first job has set the bar too high. HOW am I going to survive on a proper-proper job once I am out of here? :(

I am all of a sudden very open to the idea of long-term academia. I am not sure how to go about doing this without wanting to do a PhD though?!

The weight of things that remained unspoken
Built up so much it crushed us everyday.

Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You.

It won't be soon before long.

After "She Will Be Loved" at approximately 9.40pm, just 70 minutes after the concert started, the five members of Maroon 5 walked to the front of the stage, bowed and waved goodbye to the screaming audience. They then went backstage, with the lights still dimmed....

"Oooh... time for encore now!", I thought to myself.

AND THEN THE LIGHTS CAME ON.

No, not the colourful concert-type lights, but the Singapore Indoor Stadium lights. Bright, white lights that are kept on BEFORE a concert starts and after it ends.

The three of us seated together only had one thought in our minds: What. The. Farrrrrk???? ONE hour??!?!?!!

Things about the concert I was most disturbed about

70 minutes (?!?!) - for the amount we paid, it was a complete rip-off

Adam Levine's I-also-can-wear-to-sleep, poor quality flimsy plain white T-shirt

Atrocious sound system and acoustics

A horrible lack of interaction with the audience, i.e. it failed to engage us

70 minutes. 70 minutes!!!!! -_-

So much for all the excitement and looking forward to, for the past couple of months. My first ever proper band concert with so many friends who also loved the band and their music, turned out to be a huge flop. It was pretty obvious that they didn't put much thought and effort into making it a good first gig in Singapore - I mean, lead singer Adam Levine whom we knew as being super hot and sexy appeared on stage in a plain white flimsy T-shirt as though he bought it the night before at some 3-for-$10 pasar malam (night market), which seriously disturbed the OCD person seated on my left... and of course, me. ;) Never mind that Adam would have looked just as good wearing a potato sack anyway, and also that the focus should be on their music and not what they wore on stage, but the white T-shirt was a NO NO NO.

Sorry Adam, but even I have nicer T-shirts than you... -_-

So the band did play good music, and Adam's voice was in top form (that I cannot complain), but their lack of engagement with the audience and 70-minute concert duration made me feel like they were in a mad rush to just 'end it and F**K off asap'.

I still love Maroon 5 (and Adam), but sorry, I don't think I'll watch any of their concerts again.

And we want our money back. BAH!!!!!

Happy faces BEFORE the concert (I)

Happy faces before the concert (II)

Happy faces before the concert (III)

Happy faces before the concert (IV)

WahLAUUU faces after the concert (I) - take note the thumbs down

WAHLAUUU faces after the concert (II)

WAHLAUUU faces after the concert (III)

Her hair was pressed against her face

Her eyes were red with anger
Enraged by things unsaid
And empty beds and bad behaviour.

Maroon 5 - Goodnight Goodnight.

They didn't even bother to end the concert with the above song, so the four of us totally blasted it in the car while leaving the concert venue, just to make a statement. Now THAT, did make us feel much better. ;)

Let's waste time, chasing cars.

Believe me when I say I'd been looking forward to the Good Friday weekend since the end of the long CNY break, but on Thursday afternoon, just before the weekend was about to start, I saw my dear old boss stressing over some unfinished work which had to be completed by early Monday morning... and decided to offer a helping hand - even if it meant that I had to forgo my super long weekend! I whined to my mum and friends about losing precious long-weekend time, but deep down inside I was very much willing to do it for him, simply because he is an amazing boss. After all, since I was the one who volunteered my services in the first place, I had no proper right to complain la. :)

And forgo (most of) the weekend I did. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I went to bed at 4.30 in the morning, and by 8.30 on Sunday night I'd finally finished all that he'd given me, and felt like collapsing into a heap with obviously shrunken eyes like this: o_o

BUT, as everyone who knows me well enough would expect, I never ever let work get in the way of having fun. Thursday night was spent at dinner with the JC girls, and then late-night HK-cafe bitching (and more food!!!) with DOK; Friday night drinks and very unhealthy food with Hueyz at Timbre, where we were both mesmerized by Ngak's voice and charisma (okay, it was mostly the guitar, I admit); Saturday afternoon catch-up with SJ, whom I haven't seen in SEVEN years (can you believe we actually walked out from the cafe without remembering to pay the bill?!), and on Sunday, some me-time at Coffee Bean with my favourite sausage puff and Pure Vanilla Ice Blended for company.

Beer, wine and unhealthy alcohol food!!!

Ngak (although I must say I am not a fan of men with fuzz)

I had a stressful weekend, but it wasn't all that bad actually. :p

Maroon 5, TOMORROW. I think of Adam Levine singing on stage with his guitar and go weak in the knees.

But things just get so crazy
Living life gets hard to do
And I would gladly hit the road
Get up and go if I knew
That someday it would lead me back to you
That someday it would lead me back to you.

Maroon 5 - Sunday Morning.

This is the sound of my soul.

Okay, I'm certain it's just intrigue - there really isn't anything more to that, I swear.

Right?

Scrap the above, I am just crazy.

I bought a ticket to the world
But now I've come back again
Why do I find it hard to write the next line
When I want the truth to be said?

Spandau Ballet - True.

Love song.

I learned the hard way
That they all say things you want to hear
And my heavy heart sinks deep down under you and
Your twisted words
Your help just hurts
You are not what I thought you were
Hello to high and dry
Convinced me to please you
Made me think that I need this too
I'm trying to let you hear me as I am.

Sara Bareilles - Love Song.

Great song and awesome awesome lyrics. Watch on YouTube if interested!

Thank you Pig! ^_^

Tainted love.

I was never keen to watch this film right from the start, but after reading countless reviews about what an amazing movie 'No Country for Old Men' was (hello, Best Picture Award at the recent Oscars and an average rating of 8.6/10 on IMDB?!), ZS and I decided to go see it for ourselves last night. I will not pretend to be intellectual or artsy-fartsy and say how much I adored it, because it was honestly one of the most mind-boggling and confuzzling films I've seen in awhile. We were clearly not the only ones who didn't get it, because there were audible echoes of "HUH???" when the lights came on at the very abrupt ending. For a moment I thought we'd both missed a very important point to the plot, or maybe..... we were just plain stupid. Thank goodness for the IMDB discussion board however, poring through it obsessively for others' opinions made me realise that we weren't THAT shallow after all.

Anyway, moving on to the good parts. First, Javier Bardem, PERFECT as a psychopathic serial killer with the intentional horribly-looking haircut and signature oxygen tank. ZS was particularly in doubt when I insisted that he is actually quite a charmer in person. I mean, there is just NO WAY a Spaniard who won the Best Supporting Actor Award (and dedicated his Thank-You speech in Spanish to his mother -awww) can be unattractive in a suit right? But of course, this is just my opinion. A compelling performance that totally deserved the Oscar. :)

The well-crafted killing scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat, especially the ones with Bardem and (Josh) Brolin, who was also a brilliant actor by the way. Being the timid chicken I always am, I was curled up on my seat with eyes half-closed and heart pounding whenever Bardem was about to blow someone's brains out. :X

Unfortunately, those were pretty much the only good things about the film. Bardem totally won me over though. Yes, even with that haircut.

'There Will Be Blood' was a better film by a huge mile and should have won Best Picture instead.

In other news, I am severely upset with American Idol's Top 12 selection. Danny. DANNY got voted out even before he reached Top 12??!!!

Goodbye and good luck, you feisty little spicy one. :(

And you'll think love is to pray
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way.

Soft Cell - Tainted Love.

However far away.

I realised this morning that excitement CAN be contagious, even if I'm just sitting in front of the TV watching the drama unfold, but not without my can of coke and potato chips of course.

And by the way, who can afford to resist such w(HO)lesome goodness? Hohoho.