Felt immensely better and enjoyed the luxury of reporting in late since this is my slowdown week. Checked in at work, made a cup of tea and sat down and checked my mail. About an hour later, after walking around, making small talk and smiling, asking people how they were doing, making some phone calls globally to solve some small problems, it was time for lunch. I swear ! I could SERIOUSLY get used to this ! After lunch, walked around some more, solved more problems for people (I think my favourite part of my job right now is that I am able to help people solve problems !) made sure of my seating for China's annual dinner on Thursday, talked to a Shanghai GA Friend, made jokes around office, read some of my many chinese joke mails and whoa, it was tea time ! I got presented with a sesame ball and a raisin bun. Sigh. Life is good.

And I have to say it again. I love my job.

But when all is said and done, I guess I am rather looking forward to going back now that I know how much work there is in store here. As it is, my sub-department have been picking straws on who gets to stay till midnight every day. My task is to ensure that it is done fairly. No problem obviously. Nothing can be easier than delegating work. Sometimes, I worry about how things will be after I am gone and sometimes I am glad I am going because then they might see how valuable I have been. Hehe.

Right now, I have just finished watching a documentary on lions in a zoo, and am currently watching another documentary on a 9 year old girl who runs her own art class to support her family. Very informative and all in Mandarin. I suppose sometimes I am going to really appreciate English television when I get home ! I have been going without English for weeks here sometimes ! I hope it does not get rusty ! Speaking of rusty, I think I shall be able to drive without any problem right ? Hope so.

Ooh and I just realised that I was watching a series called Phoenix In The Ashes for the past few weeks. It is really not bad but I suppose JinBear already watched it, downloaded it and passed it to her friends too. Haha.

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Anyway.

So I went to bed, shivering only to wake up at 3 to puke my guts out. There must be something wrong in the food I supposed. Had felt uncomfortable since dinner time. Did not feel well enough to commute, so I took a taxi to work. Luckily this is my week of handover so I relatively had not much work to do. For lunch, even hid in the small room of mine to have a nap. But left at 4 anyway to get much needed sleep. I seemed to have also developed a slight fever. More sleep needed I suppose.

At work, people were saying that my face looks green / pale / red. I really do not know if I am supposed to believe any of them. But the amount of people who offered me drugs was amazing. It is as if everyone kept a first aid kit in their desks and had all sorts of remedies to offer me.

With only less than a week to go, I know it is almost time to pack. Just too lazy to get around it. But now that I know that I have to go home, I am also getting excited to go back especially with RoxBear coming to visit ! Looking forward to some fun there. Also with JeanBear and PatBear going off soon for O-Week, should meet up with them for a meal. Not to mention CCBear, KenBear, JinBear, RaeBear whom I have not met up this Summer. Also looking forward to CNY, because I want to get my fair share of Mahjong. And I want the biggest fair share !! Also with all the new people that have come in, I want to see what they are like too.

This just shows that for every thing that you have to leave behind, there is always something new to look forward to.

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So the thing I have been dreading for weeks happened. She confessed. And I had to explain and make her understand that I am nice to everyone, not just her. And how she told me it had to be someone from Shanghai. How it was my fault if anything I did led to any misunderstanding. To make matters worse, she ALSO confessed. So I had to explain to TWO people. Life is really weird. Why does noone in Malaysia confess instead ? But I must say, our 5 hour conversation was really good and there was no crazy knife-stabbing incident or insane hysterics. I feel so bad. Extremely bad. And NiqBear please do not overjudge and overanalyse it. I feel bad enough. I said I am not worth having tears over. In the end, they agreed, and said yea, I am not that great anyway for being able to attract the affection of so many girls at the office. Please however understand that I was just being myself, and as the youngest person/guy there, it was not hard at all for many of the older women to enjoy my companionship. I feel bad but at the same time I have to admit that this is a real confidence booster. Well at least when I am in Shanghai. But I think it was a relief that we were able to all walk away from that horrible dinner in laughter over our hours-long talk and still remain friends.

But basically you have to think about the social situation here. These girls are in their early twenties and earning a decent salary. They also have a sizeable dowry. Unfortunately they are also out of the leagues of all the males within their age category. In fact, that is exactly why many of them marry men seven or eight years older. This leads on to the guys of their age, going after younger women as well. But basically unless the guy is from a rich family background, it is quite impossible to meet the basic demands, which is usually an apartment without any loan outstanding. While it might not seem much in Malaysia or maybe even Australia, in Shanghai it is a big deal to own an apartment as it can cost upwards of tens of thousands per square metre. This is a big social problem. And I think at the same time, you cannot say that the women are too successful and should give it up if they want to get married. Since everyone knows that this is the time for women to become more and more successful. Everyone should follow Hilary Clinton's story to date for female inspiration. But at the same time, you have to feel pity for the guys as well. How are they ever able to afford someone of their age as more and more women graduate and get jobs that pay just as well for women as for men ? Life is a big dilemma.

Earlier on, I was having another long talk with one of the female managers at a dessert house called Sweet Dynasty. It lasted for 4 hours and we were talking about everything. I think I make a very good companion to talk to. Anyway, one thing she said about me was that I took care of my underlings very well and this was very good since my underlings could really trust me to protect their rights and this will allow them to work harder in appreciation of me. It was much better than some managers who forced underlings to work long hours and took the credit. I was flattered. She told me she wanted to be my underling too. Speaking of managers, my boss gave me my appraisal results on Friday. My score was 2.5B. Since the highest one could get was 1A, I must say that I felt pretty good about that score. And the best thing is, I have positive reviews sent directly to my HR head. That is always a good way to score additional brownie points.

I also was walking around in this department store with those two girls mentioned above in the first paragraph and I was all over-cuted. The whole place was filled with extremely cutey stuff and I swear it was a totally fluff place. Amazing.

I have to start packing for home and handing over all my duties here. I hope I am able to get my speech prepared on time. (If I am expected to give one.)

I am wondering if I am able to sleep well tonight.

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Sometimes when I feel deprived of English, I turn to CCTV 9 and just listen to people speaking. Otherwise, I truly believe that I might forget how to speak English. Spent today eating chocolate and playing 80 points again. Truly addictive, just like when I first started to play Big Two, Mahjong and then Bridge. A wonderful new game that I have learnt.

Spoke to a close friend today who remarked my Mandarin has traces of Shanghainese. Lol. Does that mean that it was truly a waste of my not learning to speak more languages ? I really believe that I can pick up new ways of speaking really fast, and depends on who I am hanging out with. Hmm. Maybe I should just quit and be an actor. Look how far Meryl Streep has come...

I am also suffering from meat overload after Korea BBQ yesterday night and then HotPot tonight. Just too much meat ! More veggies tomorrow. Have stopped buying food for the apartment in preparation of my return to Malaysia. Feel I have already crossed my baggage limit and yet I have not bought a single thing for ANYONE ? Stress. I hope noone will ask me for anything. Sigh. Feel bad.

In fact feel very bad so I really feel that I have to make an announcement here that I have just not enough time and/or weight allowance to buy souvenirs home. So sorry !!!!

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Jackpot !

Could it be the calm cool and confident air that I have been exuding during my stay here ?

Or was it my cute-as-a-small-bear personality ?

Or the fact that I was able to complete some huge tasks ?

Or that I was able to project a very tired and hardworking image ?

But anyway.

Hehe MsMoh who is a very important part of my future will soon be receiving messages from both my boss here and my big boss back home about my wonderfulness and incredible cuteness.

Wahahaha. Jackpot or what. To top it all off, tonight was a great night of sake, Kirin and Japanese buffet here in Shanghailand. It was also a time to get the boss drunk and tell funny stories. Hehehehe.

I love my job.

Burp.

I bet it was my cute-as-a-small-bear personality.

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OMG, guess what. The nice kind and good people at the place where I work obviously think that I have nothing better to do because they have asked me to TRAIN people. OMG. I hardly think that I am capable but yet am secretly pleased and proud that I was asked. At the same time, I am crapped out by the amount of work that I have to prepare for that training so that I am not a total know-nothing when I give that training. At the same time, it is a good way to escape from normal office work and maybe even go home early. Oooh, evilness.

Ooooo plus office politics is seriously a huge game where people should learn to play. Or lose out.

So RoxBear is coming over in 2 weeks and we have to plan a lot of fun things to do. I wonder if I can take some days off ? I hope so. Though I do not want to take too many days off as then I will have less for CFA exams as well as for Melbourne trip this year (hope it is still on. Cross every single thing I have...)

Have to wake up really early tomorrow, as boss wants me to go to office with him. Sigh. There goes my sleep..

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Been quite a good day. Solved 4 problems before lunch, which always gets me in a good mood. Then I was told I got another two staff. Funny thing is, one is called Candy and one is called Jelly. Haha. So funny. But they are alright, at least they do things right. Hehe. But it is really funny. I was thinking that the entire staff has funny names. Like Leaf and Cloud and Rainbow. And Trady and Bruce Li and Vivi. But the winner is still the person who calls himself Hymen. I swear, people have got to be more careful what they call themselves !

Anyway, my big boss came and told me a lot of good stuff. And good stuff always make me happy. He told me I looked tired and that I was overworked and that I was doing good. Lol. If only he knew I was up late last night to change my fantasy football while Arsenal played Man U. But I still worked hard OK ! I worked yesterday as well ! On a Sunday !! But hopefully this means that I when I return to Malaysia, more good things happen too ? I love my job.

But of course on Saturday met up with 3 colleagues. First we went to a mahjong place to play Shanghai Rules Mahjong. It was a real proper mahjong place. Woo. I love it. I wish Malaysia has these type of places ! Anyway we played through lunch until about 4 pm. Then we joined another colleague out and went karaoke until 8 with dinner included. Then back to my apartment for games and bitching about other colleagues. Lol. Was absolutely fun. I think I could really live and work here and will miss this place when I go. But then, things will always change and as DamBear says, we have to look ahead.

As I am typing this, CCTV Music is broadcasting a orchestra playing selections from musicals. I have a lot of fun singing along while surfing. Coolness. It is times like this, when I feel that living in an apartment is not too bad at all. In fact, I would think that living in an apartment is perfectly acceptable if I were to be living alone some place. It is cool. Not too big a place and yet not as squashed if it was just a small room.

Happy Birthday DanBear ! Here is wishing you lots and lots of good future experiences in your life ! You deserve it.

I hope my boss has very expensive good news for me. Do you think he will like me enough to buy me a car ? Or a big raise ? Or more clothes. Or at least dinner ?

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If there are any times to tell your mom thanks, you better do it soon.

Thanks Mom. And everyone who has been wishing me well.

For every topic except my favourite (Alternative Assets) I got a score above 70%.

Phew.

Can you say death due to Level 2 in June anyone ?

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Am watching this really funny Korean drama on tv. It is really funny I swear !

Anyway, have lots and lots of work to do this week but I am motivated by the fact that if I can finish a whole lot of work before the weekend, I have a mahjong date set up !!! !!!! !!! !!! !!!

I am THAT excited.

Sigh just looking at my shoes make me happy.

JinBear is talking about a short trip here with her sister/RaeBear. Hmm that would be nice !

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I have worked for exactly a year today and I went scouting around the office for rewards. A year ago I thought I would be celebrating this day at the office with my colleagues in Malaysia.

Little did I know that one year on I would be celebrating it with colleagues in Shanghai.

I got !

1. Free pizza for lunch.
2. 4 offers for me to buy them lunch.
3. More work.
4. Only 3 hours of overtime opposed to usual 4.

Yay.

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Love is in the air...every time a surprise. Anyway have spent a wonderful day too filled with meaningful
conversations. I have also come to the conclusion that weddings and engagements and talks about certain people discovering their other half can make one very very happy. All mushy and lovey dovey. Hehe, congrats to a certain WBear. Hehe. And Nippon has wonderful ads....very romantic and colour filled.

And as we were discussing WBear’s future girlfriend, it suddenly dawned of me that he was turning 22. Which means I am turning 23 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A moment of shock. Though I should have realized it when I read that DanBear is turning 21 soon. (Happy 22nd birthday LucBear as well). I am soooo old. And the worst part of it all is that I cannot complain about this at work as I am the youngest. Sucks. But deep down I know that I am OLD !!!!!!! Eww. I would never have thought about myself as a 23 year old. In fact I can hardly remember a time when I have thought about myself as a 22 year old and now suddenly I have to think about myself being 23 years old.

After speaking with NicBear and SherBear and SalBear it seems as if it would be better to go back to Melbourne in late November/early December.... compared to September's spring break. Am looking forward to it already, and I sincerely hope that my plans will not get derailed, just like this December's plans. Though it is very welcome in both career advancement and monetary terms, I have missed lots of precious time with friends. Maybe I should plan it even earlier and tell my future boss about my plans. Hope I have enough money saved up by then. Which means no more shopping. Which should be alrite as I have more than enough shirts now, I have enough leisure tops for an army, enough jeans and pants. Logically, I do not need anything this year. Except new contact lenses. Which is fine I guess ? NO SHOPPING !! I should add this on as an eleventh resolution.

Speaking of shopping, as I was looking up the internet to find pics of my latest purchases, I learnt the brand name of my jeans. It is a pair of Evisu jeans. Or rather a fake pair of Evisu jeans. I must say though, that I would have gotten it even if it was not Evisu but brandless, because as I mentioned to DanBear, the style is so much more important than the brand. I also could not find the Timberland model of my boots, so maybe it does not exist, but it sure looks good. Now for the pics, since DamBear wants to see it, and I am also so proud of them.... The jeans are up above and the boots are below so that they are each on one side.

Are they not just the loveliest things you have ever seen ? I love them. I have not bought any shoes since my cheapo gym shoes (which do not count) in January 2006. So I think I am fully justified in buying this pair of shoes for leisure. My jeans is also fully justified as my last pair was bought in Dec 2005 (though I think I have 8 pairs of jeans now). But then again, this will give me the perfect chance to throw/remodel my old jeans..hehe..a project I have been planning for some time now.

I think I shall limit my purchases of shoes to 3 a year maximum, a pair for leisure, a pair for work and a pair of sport shoes if needed. I am also limiting my glasses to maximum one a year and tops for leisure to max of 6 a year. Shirts have also been limited to 6 a year. Pants/Jeans limited to 2 a year maximum. This is going to be a draconian rule much like China's one child policy. Otherwise, I shall really run out of room for my clothes. Sometimes you need a little tough love.

Oh and I did a little test about my own characteristics : clean, likes large parties, outgoing, makes friends easily, optimistic, positive, social, high self control, traditional, assertive, rarely irritated, self revealing, open, finisher, high self concept, controlling, rarely worries, tough, likes to stand out, does not like to be alone, semi neat freak, fearless, dominant, trusting, organized, resolute, strong, practical, craves attention, adventurous, hard working, respects authority, brutally honest, realist, altruistic. Hmm seems not too bad. Sounds a lot like me. Especially the bolded parts.

Tonight made dinner for little me, which I call my 3 treasure noodles. Which is noodles/udon with chicken egg, beef balls and pork dumplings. 3 favourite things from 3 animals. Hehe. Yum.

Have realised that I still like my hair style to be of the 'dry grass' type. Which is totally wrong for my profession. Which is why I need a cut that I can morph from banker to rocker in a matter of minutes. Hehe. Wait. Must remember my age........What is my age again ?

23.

Shucks.

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Another week has flown past.

Work was tiring as I had to be in control of a few places and also my staff has increased to 6 now. Also I have to start moving things to the new vault in an orderly manner and there are many things to follow up and I have to liaise with more departments/groups and everything is just tiring ! Bah. But still got a lot done and hopefully come this two weeks, everything will go well and so that I can finish off everything in 2 weeks and still have a week for any small problems. Good luck to me !!

But seriously other than work I cannot remember much else except that there were a lot of problems to be solved and people to be met and that one night I went for karaoke after work with a colleague as I was super stressed.

Today however was great. Met up with another colleague who took me shopping and walking around the not so well known parts of Shanghai. She brought me to her old house. It was like in the movies in the 60s, old houses with little alleys and little rooms and very traditional living standards, like no toilets and no heating, but lots of family members squashed in a little place. All very special and makes you realise that just a few streets away from all that shopping and huge tall buildings are these little old communities in a world of their own, where things are almost unchanged for decades. A very special experience of Shanghai that you cannot get on any tour. Thanks, MsAngelW.

We also spent a whole day poking around in those small shops far far away and with treasures to behold. I had an aim to get some shoes and jeans as I had noticed that the jeans here were very special looking and had a lot of character while I know that the shoes here can be ridiculously cheap. Phwoar !!!!!!!! I swear....it is worth it just to fly here and shop. Which is what I plan to do in the future.

I walked around for hours with oodles of self control but finally gave in to the evilness of clothing temptation when I bumped into a pair of jeans with 21 pockets. 21 !!!! How could anyone resist that ??? It made me so glad that I had given up on my previous favourite pair that I wanted to buy, which was a darker shade of blue with a huge dragon motif around the left thigh with more patterns on the right thigh. So I bought it and hugged it to make sure that I really got it !

And then we walked a couple of hundred miles more before just by chance we stumbled upon a basement shop which was really a shoe market and I was lost in a whole new world of footwear. I finally decided to buy something after having my heartstings pulled. I saw something for 10 seconds and decided to buy it after putting it on and looking at it in front of the mirror for 10 minutes. I love it so much. It is a pair of dark waterproof boots and has markings all over its dark chocolate colour. It is also has high white cuffs with copper toes. Amazing. Fantastic. Love it.

By this time it was about 7 pm and we had been walking for about 8 hours. We started to get some food and decided to go on a forage/odyssey of small treats instead of a proper meal. We had some dumplings at DND, then some crepe at a roadside stall, some pork satay at another stall, some crabmeat buns, and finally a giant ice kacang type of dessert in a shopping centre. Love the food, it is all so amazingly good. We spent a lot of time there gossiping over some other colleagues and talking about work and life in general.

A great day and when I came back and tried on the jeans, I love them even more.

The world can be so perfect some times.

I love everyone in the world at the moment. My new boots are winking at me, and I know what I am going to wear next weekend. My lovely jeans. With 21 pockets.

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After a very relaxing day, I spent today basically managing and leading, did little but got lots accomplished. I suppose that is how managers are meant to act ? Manage a team to do lots of work while doing minimal work and getting the best out of his team ? Hehe. Today I had a team of 5 and basically did just that. I could get used to being the manager and just lead people. Hehe. I gave some orders, had fun with them, watched the work get done, received the praise, liaised with the bigger bosses and had fun working. It was a great day.

Now, as I sit back and watch the circus at Monte Carlo on television, I just think about how I can get people to work harder tomorrow ? Hehe.

Meanwhile, SailorRoz got engaged !!! My first friend to get engaged ! I am pretty excited for her and have started thinking about what to get her for her wedding !? A beautiful set of two chopsticks ??? A useless decoration but pretty nice as a decoration ? Soooooo excited. Sometimes I wonder if I would get married just for the excitement of it all !! Especially as I just watched a documentary on TV regarding an American getting married in China... wa..... .. pretty exciting and sweet ! And for the first time in a whole month that I have been watching the programme, the matchmaking show successfully matched all four couples on the show !!! It was pretty stressful as almost everyone changed their initial choices after the first round, but thank goodness it all turned out great !!!! Sigh. So sweet. The world is filled with rose petals and popcorn and ribbons and pies at the moment...

Meanwhile the more I think about what I have learnt the more I feel really left out about what is happening in KL !! So many new people and so many things are happening ! Ever the busybody with insatiable curiosity...I am dying for news...Thanks for the gossip !!! I might have
died without it !!

Meanwhile here, there is also a mini permanent cold war between two subdepartments. I am not really involved as it is between two groups of females. Hehe. But maybe because I am so cute and I get on really well with everyone here, I get bribed by both sides all the time. Free drinks, presents, chocolates, dinners, tours, fun times, ....hehe.... I am not picking sides...but I am just wondering if I can play on both sides ? Since I am not really permanently working here...could I just get along well with everyone ? I think I can. More prezzies !!!

It is just great to be everyone's darling.

I love the world too.

Muaks !!!!

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Why do guys diss their girlfriends behind their backs ? Including the ones they plan to marry ?

Does it make them feel more macho ? Like they like the girl but only if she likes them more ? And that they can live without them anyway ? But if so, then why stay with her ?

Anyway !

Parents left from Shanghai after being here for a week. I think they brought away more stuff than they brought here. And they promised to bring stuff home for me..but ended up, they had so much stuff of their own. But I think they had a pretty good time shopping here. I must say, some things can seem dirt cheap here compared to Malaysia.

Today after they left, went to XuJiaHui to meet some of the colleagues here to play 80 Points - which is a very popular card game here, rivalled only by Mahjong. I must say, I am quite addicted to it now. It has some similarities to Bridge, and can be explained with that terminology but it is slightly harder. Good game to learn if you want something new after playing bridge for a long time. We played till 10 pm in a nice cafe type of thing much like WongKok CCT except that in this place, everyone was sitting in groups of 4, playing this game. So you can think for yourself how popular this game is here.

With the extension confirmed, my new date of return to Malaysia is February 4th. Hopefully that is not too late to catch the people home from Melbourne ! And also just in time for CNY to play some Mahjong !!!!!!!!!

Too bad, some people have already returned to Melbourne for Summer. I wonder if all of us from my year will be able to keep our pact to meet up back in Melbourne this year ?

I hope so.

Otherwise, work is getting better as more things become understandable day by day. Have been liasing with people from India, Malaysia, Shenzhen and other parts of China every day. Project work is like that I suppose. Filled with deadlines and people. I hope I can make a good difference here. At least I know now that the boss here is very happy with my work here and wants me to stay as long as possible. That is some very good news. My relationship with the colleagues here is also getting better and better. Very good in fact ! I hope this lasts ! I will miss them very much when I leave, as I know there will be very little chance of us meeting again in the future....

But people come and people go in your life.

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I hate the Taiwanese earthquake !!!

My internet pangs have caused me much pain.

Anyway, since Tuesday, it has been mostly about work and I guess I do not want to bore everyone with my whining any more.

Instead, I am feeling quite happy about my work as I have made serious headways and have gotten praises from all 3 bosses. The Sunflower project is also slowly getting solved. In fact, I have had no problem taking care of them at all. A great sense of accomplishment.

Now for the big news. They want to extend my stay so that I will continue doing work here. At least for a month.

*Whoa.

Another month in Shanghai.
Still not sure what to feel.

One thing for sure though, karaoke on Wednesday...with my colleagues..

Another year has passed and it is time to review my resolutions and make new ones. A flashback to 1/1/2006.

1. Lose 15 kg. At least. (Crap. Failed miserably)
2. Get a job and enjoy it for a year. (OK, well 2 weeks to go..Considered Achieved)
3. Start professional certification studies. (Started. Exam Dec 3. Achieved)
4. Keep in touch with all my friends. (Achieved, well.. yea I consider it achieved)
5. Make new friends. (Totally Achieved)
6. Save some money. (Achieved)
7. Go on one overseas trip. (Achieved - In Shanghai now !!)
8. Have a much cleaner house with more systems. (Achieved)
9. Improve my Chinese, and start on Japanese. (Achieved)
10. Try to make some effort towards world peace. (Making friends counts. Achieved !!)

So it seems that I have achieved 9 out of 10 of my New Year's Resolutions !! A fantastic year.

Now for 2007.

1. Lose 10 Kg. At least. (More reasonable...)
2. Keep plugging on at my job and achieve success.
3. Pass Level 1 of my professional studies and start Level 2.
4. Keep in touch with most of my friends.
5. Make new friends.
6. Save more money than in 2006.
7. Go on one overseas trip.
8. Buy less clothes of higher quantity.
9. Improve my Chinese, my singing and learn more skills.
10. Keep on having fun times and be positive all the time.

OMG Just found out from the TV that LeeHom was in Shanghai performing for free last night. Shit. What an utter waste !!!

PS I celebrated with having a few colleagues back at my place (females only) for dinner, and then talking and playing games and waited for New Year. Much like how I celebrated Christmas.

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