Saturday, September 26, 2009

It has been a long and hectic week... Plenty of Ot's and late nights while having to wake up early and crawling out of the comfortable bed to drag oneself to work...


22.09.09 Start of work at Wini's coy

Alrighty, so I began my first day of work at ACR where Wini was working full time as a internal auditor. Reached there early and was introduced to the people in the claims team and a mini orientation to the office where I would be working in... For long or for a short stint, I dunno... I guess that would have to depend on whether DBS would call me up for the group budgetting position.. Anyhow, the people on my team though all aunties and uncles were rather friendly which was good i guess haha... No wonder, wini said they were a bunch of fun people.. Anyway, learnt how to use their system to input the claims data and my my it was a rather complicated affair as one had to look out for so many details and categories in order to put one claim in...


Was treated to lunch by Wilfred, the claim's team manager, at this japanese restaurant in Tanjong Pagar... Rather good i say but just a bit costly... haha one bowl of rice with salmon will set one back by around 10 bucks but the food was rather good! So while having lunch, Wilfred was telling me more about the company and all the interesting things that his work encompasses.. What with all the secerts of the aircraft industry that the public will never be told, the reasons as to why aircraft crashes and why ships collides and many various stories... At the same time, he kept asking me whether I would be keen to stay on with the company in the claims team... to this, I really did not know how to answer him... Yes, the working environment was very friendly and I like it but I dunno if the job's suitable for me cuz it seemed rather mundane at times... its more of a job that requires one to look through the contracts to see if the claim was listed in it...


Headed home to change before heading down to Geylang to meet the canoeists for durain at 10pm. Bought a Ping bi mooncake as a cake for Pei yu as it was her actual birthday today, since I was thinking she most probably wont have the stomach for too much cake if she wanted to eat more durains. Met Travis, Sarah and Marcus at Aljunied MRT, before heading down to the durain stall to meet Pei yu, Pamela, Eric, Edwin and Jason. Pei yu was treated to Mao Shan Wang there at the durain stall when the owner knew that it was her birthday. The Mao Shan Wang was rather small, haha but cant expect too much cuz its free right? Anyway, had our fill of durains before we headed back home. And Pamela was kind enough to drive me home, haha cause I was really wondering how I was going to go back home since it was already midnight… Thanks Pam!

24.09.09 DBS call up and dinner with Wen yi

Today was the end of the 2 week’s wait for DBS to call up to inform me if I was to be selected for the position for the MAS graduation immersion programme and I didn’t realize that my phone was missing till I stepped into the office. Was in a panic till I remembered that I may have left my phone on the bed as I was in a hurry to go to work. Called Mum to ask her check if the phone was on the bed and true enough it was lying there, and thereby asked her to pick up any calls for me. It was later in the morning when Wini told me that my mum was looking for me. Apparently, DBS had called me up to inform me that there would be a 3rd interview as the VP who could not make it for the 2nd interview wanted to speak to me personally. Felt rather excited and happy to be selected for the immersion program as I had always wanted to work in a bank, just to get a feel of how the bank operates and their culture.
Met Wen yi at Orchard and had dinner at Food Republic before deciding to walk around the area as she was feeling rather full. Learnt from her that there were several restaurants serving good food though a tad expensive in Taka itself. Maybe should go there eat one day when my financial situation improves. Hopefully the cheque would come in today.
Anyway, Happy birthday Kevin!! Hope you enjoyed the celebration that they planned for you in school though I didn’t know about it and couldn’t make it even if I knew till I saw the facebook pictures..

25.09.09 Melissa’s 21st at Penny Black

Headed down to Penny Black after work today to attend Mel’s 21st birthday party. The place had a rather nice ambience I must say, it was rather cozy. Met up with the rest there and helped decorated it a little. Stringing the photos along the ridges and the tying of balloons were only part of the job.. The food was great, the music was good and the company was even better... Had so much fun with Xiao Qiang... What with watching Nizam jumping at the proximity of it and Pamela running off just at the threat of it... Haha den came the birthday quiz about Mel and that the team with the lowest point had to perform a group forfeit! Well our group representive did us proud... haha but then again he had an unfair advantage!! haha all's well that ends well! Pei yu joined us later after her wisdom tooth operation. And I must say I was rather impressed with Mel's aunt... She actually prepared 21 gifts for her!!! Lucky Lucky Mel!!

Anyway, after that headed down to a pub at Boat Quay for a drink with Mervyn, Sarah and Pei yu. Its been a long time since I had a drink and it just proved once again how long my alcohol tolerance is... I was like gg to lala land when I only had 1 pint of beer.. Haha dunno why oso... quite chui lohz...

27.09.09 East Coast Park

Was heading down to East Coast Park (ECP) after tuition on bus 13 when I saw Travis running along Still Road with a face filled with determination. Haha wanted to call out to him but the bus just overtook him before i could wave at him... Well, anyway found my way to the void deck of Wen yi's house before heading to ECP with her... Haha she was rather cute in the way that she actually drew a map indicating where her house is!! Haha and i was thinking that if she just gave me some prominent landmarks to look out for I should be able to locate the place... and if not, asking always solves the problem... Anyway, spent the next 1 and a half hours cycling while she bladed... Wanted to learn how to blade actually but I decided not to in view that I do not wish to injure myself cuz I might have an interview with DBS the next day... Had dinner at the food center there where I was introduced to the popular wanton noodle stall... Not bad but the portion was quite small... We should have another session like this again!! haha fun but tiring and next time must teach me how to blade haha...

30.09.09 3rd interview with DBS

By now, I was really confused as to whether I should stay on with ACR or join DBS. I could tell that Wilfred was quite keen on asking me to stay with his team and I felt really bad to say that I would most prob go to DBS if offered the chance. I actually quite like the working environment there, not to mention the pantry there... lol its like heaven lah... its well stocked with Ribbena, Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Pokka Green Tea, 100 plus, Crysthum tea, Oolong tea, Milo and many others!! Its simply unbelieveable!! The day before, I consulted Yvonne on whether I should join DBS or remain here and she simply said this: "Go try DBS, the bank is the place where you always wanted to be in isnt it? Den dun waste the opportunity otherwise you will live to regret it later even though you have a stable job in ACR."

So said, I went ahead with my interview with DBS and there I was presented with a shock. So instead of the budgetting position, it was mandatory to rotate around the different departments in the bank which included systems.. I was actually alright with the rotation other than systems... Well, I guess the doubt that had lain dormant in my mind den started to grow again.. It was just then when I was asking the Vp some questions when i felt a wave of dizziness... Apparently it wasnt me only, it was the aftershocks of an earthquake which caused the building to shake.. First time experience for me and I must say I didnt really enjoyed it esp in the midst of all the tension during the interview. Well, the only good thing was I felt that I would most probably be offered the job since the vp said that she would contact me in a day or 2....

02.10.09 Confusion

Received the call from DBS today with the job offer, but HR didnt mention the pay package which I tot was rather weird but instead she simply told me she will send the contract to me either by today or tml and that I would have to meet her on one of the days, w/o specifying which day it was.... It was then I was thrown into total confusion... Mum, Mal, Js and Sarah were of the opinion that I should go DBS and try out... Py just said to go wherever I'm comfy with the work environment... but i haven been to DBS to work be4... so I guess it didnt really help... Wini, thr "spying" on me came over and gave me some insights on her thoughts which i really appreciated. I was left with a clearer picture, but it still didnt help in my decision... Though I think I may have already made up my mind, I guess I still wanted to hear what Wilfred's boss have to say to me ba... And I hope he does it before I sign the dotted line of the contract that DBS will be sending to me...

Posted by Clarence at 7:09 AM