Isn't she so cute & lovable?

CNY has been somewhat boring this year. Stayed at hotel room & enclosure most of the time, which is what I do when I go back to Batam =( , & it hasn't been any different this time (tho it's CNY..). It wasn't that boring actually, but waking up without a list of to-dos really bothers me. Ate plenty of crabs/seafood stuff, caught up with my relatives, & the most fun of all, getting to play around with my youngest cousin, who's still yet to turn 2 years old (will post up a pic of her soon =)

Watching her growing up so fast (she could barely stand last year & now she's prancing ard everywhere!), I realised I'm really missing out a lot on the family's activities back home by staying at sg. She's learning how to speak now as well, & u could see her putting so much effort (& face muscle contortion) just to pronounce gu-gu (aunt in chinesE) correctly haha. & the way she pronounces the words are just so hilarious. She's always been choosy on who she allows to carry her, & at the start of the week she wouldn't even let me walk her ard. The night before I came back, she actually wanted me to carry her, & the significance of it was that she was with her mom at that time, & usually she'll turn to no one else, xcept for her dad, in that situation. Maybe it was me over-analyzing, but I was really touched that she's accepted me into her 'inner circle', & tears started welling up in my eyes on the way back to the hotel, knowing that I probably won't get to see her anytime soon in the future when I get my job @ sg...

Happy CNY everyone!

Not yet.. Not till I get this done.. & then I can get my long awaited break.. Long overdue break~

feb update

Dear blog,

it's been a while since my last update. I do check back once in a while, but just wasn't in the mood to do any write ups. Been busy submitting resumes, doing on&offline assessments, & attending interviews since I decided to get some experience in the global workplace. So far it's taken me to Goldman, UBS, P&G, & Citibank.

Wrote here ard 1 mth back abt Goldman's application, & since then I've been to the 1st interview. Learned so much abt the work inside within that interview alone, but I was really put off by the working hours: 7.30 am - 1.30 am in the 1st 2 years!~ Can't believe my ears when the manager said that, but I kept an open mind and waited for the 2nd interview call. It came after 4 weeks, & this time I told the manager I wasn't ready to commit to such long & arduous hours yet, but maybe in the future I'll be interested. He was really understanding & even gave me advice to get some experience in other banks first, keep his namecard & apply back to Goldman when I feel ready later on. So, there u go Jan, my 2nd love-hate relationship with Goldman again came to the same ending haha. I think the HR people will juz throw away my resume when I apply for it again next time!

Better result with Citibank though. I've gone past the 1st round interview this week, & will be going for the 2nd next week to meet the private banker I'll be assisting (if I'm hired). Everything abt the job seems ok, humanly work hours, opportunity to learn from the best in the biz, & chance to manage top wealthy clients (assets > US$10 millions!) , which would really help set me up for my long term goal. The only bad thing is that I won't be able to have any private clients for the 1st 2-3 years, & will probably be more like a secretary to a private banker (or if I'm in bad luck, TWO private bankers!). In short, learning will take place at my own initiative, & I'll have to pick it up at much higher pace. That's fine with me though, coz I don't plan to stay in the place for too long anw if they don't value my service, so a bit more learning in the 1st year will work out fine =)

ahhhh enough abt the work stuff for the moment. Received an early b'day msg in the arvo today (thx Gracey & Kel!), & that made my day, after getting exhausted from the P&G numerical assessment earlier. Hopefully this year will turn out well, & gets me a step closer to my goal, as well as achieving some lesser known objectives I've set myself earlier.

till later.. ~ Adios amigos ~ Ciaoz amico ~ sayonara, tomodachi ~ sampai ntar ~ =p