Tuesday, October 31, 2006

What Motivates Me?


I need to find a work environment that gives me the following:
INDEPENDENCE
TRAVEL
WORTHWHILE
SUPPORTIVE BOSS
DEVELOPMENT
HIGH ENERGY

I need a job that allows me to use the following competencies:
Teamwork
Flexibility
Integrity
Information seeking
Self-confidence
Personal growth

I need to consider the personal implications of accepting a job where the following competencies are a key requirement:
Organizational awareness
Technological awareness
Conflict management
Planning, organizing and


High interest - High capability
These competencies form the profile of your ideal job. Where interest and ability meet, you will give your best contribution and work might not even feel like work. Look for opportunities that exercise these competencies in your job, or by seeking projects or assignments where they can be used. When you know precisely which competencies you prefer to use, you can steer your career and life in the direction you choose.

Questions to ask yourself

What jobs require a high concentration of these competencies?

What questions can I ask to reveal whether a particular job requires me to use these competencies?

What examples can I use to illustrate that I possess these competencies?

In my new job, how can I use these competencies to maximize the benefits to myself and to the organization?

Low interest - Low capability
You have identified competencies that may not be suitable for your field of work. If you find a job that requires you to use a high proportion of these competencies, you are unlikely to be happy or perform well. When making a career decision, consider the personal implications of accepting such a job. For long term career planning, you may want to consider developing these areas regardless of your disinterest if they will help you to reach other career goals.

Questions to ask yourself

What percentage of a job will require me to use these competencies?

How can I reduce my exposure to the use of these competencies?

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Special People

Well this weekend had been nothing short of fruitful.

Had a drinks and laughs on Friday. You know who you are who had made my week!

Had a Halloween party dressing up on Sat. It should have been my pet event, but I robotically executed my tasks.







Had a 5km Women Run this morning. I was happy to cross the finishing line with many other very eager ladies! Wonder what My Timing is.

Just returned from a wedding dinner at Raffles The Plaza. Beautiful dim lighting, with floating tealights and roses all around. It was romantic. Food came at a snail's pace, at 10pm, five more dishes were still not served. A rather touching event.

Weekend activties aside, somehow, I feel empty despite the hubbub of programmes. I think I am losing touch with people whom I took for granted before. The non-contact mode is not working anymore.

As people start to work, there seems to be less time for others around. Have I changed, or have the special people around me changed? Who are the special people to me? Am I still special to them too? The tables have turned.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Oasis - Champagne Supernova

How many special people change?
How many lives are living strange?
Where were you while we were getting high?
Slowly walking down the hall
Faster than a cannonball
Where were you while we were getting high?
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova in the sky
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova
A champagne supernova in the sky
Wake up the dawn and ask her why
A dreamer dreams, she never dies
Wipe that tear away now from your eye
Slowly walking down the hall
Faster than a cannonball
Where were you while we were getting high?
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova in the sky
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova
A champagne supernova
'Cuz we don't believe
That they're gonna get away from the summer
But you and I will never die
The world's still spinning around we don't know why
Why-why-why-why-i-i

How many special people change?
How many lives are living strange?
Where were you while we were getting high?
Slowly walking down the hall
Faster than a cannonball
Where were you while we were getting high?
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova in the sky
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova
A champagne supernova
'Cuz we don't believe
That they're gonna get away from the summer
But you and I will never die
The world's still spinning around we don't know why
Why-why-why-why-i-i
(a really long guitar solo)
(background - sounds like a bunch of "No"'s)
(birds chirping)
(more guitar)
How many special people change?
How many lives are living strange?
Where were you while we were getting high

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Monday, July 31, 2006

Tibet Planning

For travellers, Tibet is said to be without doubt one of the most remarkable places to visit in Asia. It offers fabulous monastery sights, raw high-altitude valleys and troughs, stunning views of the world's highest mountains and apparently one of the most likeable peoples around. However, due to the reality of politics, it can sometimes be a sobering and saddening experience.





"For the Tibet trip, I am proposing that we travel between 16 Dec to 24 Dec. There are essentially two ways with which we can get to Tibet. One would be overland, where we take the bus from Kathmandu to Lhasa on the Nepal-Chinese Highway. This highway is 900km long and would involve us taking a plane to Kathmandu and then taking a bus to Lhasa.

Alternatively, it is possible to fly to Beijing and then take the Beijing-Lhasa train to our destination. The prices of a ticket would range from 800-1200 yuan (around 200-250 SGD) and the journey is 4064 km long. The journey will also take 48 hours. There are three trains leaving from Beijing to Lhasa per day.

For visas, it is necessary to get a separate visa for Tibet and one for China/Nepal. So that would involve applying for two visas for the trip."

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Samsui Women - The Chinese Apha Breed


Wow , I didnt know that Samsui women managed to match the men in terms of heavy work, working alongside the men in contruction sites and fields. Sounds like the Amazonians! They were rugged, displayed true grit and resoluteness. One thing I didnt know was that they chose to stay single and independent, often taking a vow of celibacy! .. this little input was inspired by August's edition of Asian Geographic.

.. I caught the premiere of Cabaret over the weekend - boasting a stella cast of Fei Xiang, Emma Yong, Karen Tan, Mark Richmond, Celine Rosa Tan ... and a tight knit of dancers. Boy it was long, close to three hours! Can you believe a local musiclal lasting that long? SET in pre-Nazi Germany in the 1930s, Cabaret depicts the intertwining stories of a cabaret singer, Sally Bowles, her doomed relationship with American writer Clifford Bradshaw and the citizens of Berlin during the bedlam of a changing society. Sally sings in a decadent club called the Kit Kat Klub where the sinister and seemingly omnipresent Emcee holds court.

... Sure, director Beatrice Chia packed it choked full of mature jokes, which were subtlely in-your-face. (I cant describe it otherwise).
... Sure Emma Yong's bod and VOCALS never looked and sounded that good.
... Sure I couldnt tell that the REALLY tall German- was played by Mark Richmond
... Sure I could tell that Fei Xiang's role - good as he tweaked his voice skillfully, (but sounded muffled over the sound system - audience could hardly comprehend apart from the repetitive chorus), sadly it looked out of place with the whole production. It was as if he had rehearsed the parts by himself - it was not tightly reined in with flow of the show.
... Sister said that the original focussed more on the Cabaret scene, and the one we watched focussed more on romance between Frau Schneider(German) and Herr Schultz (German Jew). It brought out strains of political issues - and pre-world war I tensions
... In short, it was a great effort by Toy Factory, although it evidently suffered from the same woes as all productions do - having never enough rehearsal time. Plus the production seemed to want to tackle too many issues, and did not have a strong focus (Either presenting a entertaining set or a musical with a message to send)Nevertheless, I had enjoyed the laughs, I liked Celine Tan's raucously irreverent protrayal of a prostitute with a penchant for young Sailors boys! It had entertainment value for sure, and I think the well-heeled crowd lapped by the jokes, by the sounds of the appreciative laugher that peppered the show.

My kids in Speech & Drama are doing pieces from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, The Horla by Guy De Maupassaunt, Vilette by Charlotte Bronte, Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw ... which means I have to read up more... argh.... quick, pass me the synopsis!

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Ah Wow!

Top Six Happy List
1) From: Discovery Travel & Living Subject: We want to see more of you! =)
2) High on City Space's Govner's Smile with Antz - Unobscured view of Spore
3) Paula's Home Cooked Chicken Rice on a Friday night
4) Hip Hop under Dee Dee with Sam @ Wu Studio
5) Half Day Tuesday @ CGH for Dad's Checkup ~ finally!
6) Hitting 5 km on the runner! Woohoo!

Top Two Not-so-happy List
1) Mommy refuses to go for Checkup
2) Working on understanding Options

Besides the above - I am tired. Perpetually falling asleep in front of Computers - regardless if it's at the workplace or otherwise.

Now think think of script...
Backdrop: Raffles Place Mert.
Why? The FACE of Singapore. At the Crux of the Matter. Breakneck Speed. The Quest to Reach the Top. Congestion at The Escalator. Singlemind shuffling. To the LEFT. Determination. Kock kock plick pliak. Whiff.
People. Women, many women. Backbone of a Patriachal society. The mother of hogging orange mert seats. V-P-L.
Me: I. Third Person. Faceless in the sea of orderliness. Tall. Taller than everyone else. Uniform. Love Hate Struggle. Live, Rules. Who I Am.

Where: Rock Wall. Boulder. Mattress. Fall. High. Colours. Determination. Challenge. Live.

Sleepy. Blackout.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Fruitful Weekend?

I look at my hands , calloused, blisterd, corned. But my heart is singing.

1. Learnt the difference between top rope and lead climbing in terms of risk and physics of it
2. Learnt how to belay a lead climb , climb a lead climb, communication required

3. Knots learnt: Double Figure of Eight, Clove Hitch or Mickey Mouse Knot, Prussik & Crab, Tape Knot, Munter Hitch
4. Rappeling / Abseiling - a system of lowering oneself using rope





5. Self Equalising and Isolated Anchors - if there are only bolts available
6. Got an idea of what Multi-pitching is
7. Coach taught me how to Flag and Back Step more effectively!

In short, I was introduced to the joys and risks of lead climbing. I fell three times today because I couldnt carry myself up the overhang. Scrapped my elbows, knees and shin. But not serious. A bit scary up there - gonna work on it come Tuesday.

New term learnt - Sewing machine: Used to refer to the visible uncontrollable trembling of the leg when climbing.


That was a very lovely Sunday spent. Saturday, however, i was played out big time. Ended up getting bored over TV, and decided that washing clothes was a better way to spend my time.