Me and my cost saving plans
12:44 p.m. x 24.09.10
So I succumbed to it.
To human greed.
Don't worry, I didn't commit any crime.
I just....
bought a cup of papaya juice from the bridge while coming back from lunch.
=)
My first drink during lunch (that is not part of a set meal), my third after-lunch tidbit (1st was chinese pancakes, 2nd was bread, both on my Goodpack engagement!).
So lunch today costed a total of 5 bucks just hitting my lunch budget. 2 bucks is a big deal. If I saved 2 bucks on meals everyday, I'll have...40 bucks surplus at the end of the month! That's enough for going out with friends, or for shock events like going for lunch for a group of people that happens to choose an expensive location. But, I admit, I gave in to my craving on Monday, going for Sakae Sushi during lunch. Alone. When I should be eating my 3 bucks meal and leaving such extravegenet meals to when it's really necessary. T.T
So, from now on, I'll give myself a bonus every Friday. If I can keep to a cheap meal (i.e. no more than 3.50), everyday, I can spend 2 bucks on drinks/fruits/snacks/sweets on Friday!!
Muahaha yes, rules are meant to be broken made by humans, so this is a new rule. =)
No wonder mom complained that since I started work, I've became more han suan....
But I still have my principles.
I was quite pissed off yesterday when my ex-lunch buddy refused to take the $3 I owed her for last Friday's lunch. She insisted on treating me. Well, I'm someone who likes to depend on myself for everything, as much as possible. Even long time friends like sw and yy, I don't like to let them treat me, unless it's some big occasion. But for new acquaintances, and for no particular reason, treat me, I feel awkward. In fact, I was so uncomfortable that I did away with the niceties (I tried them the first day, saying that she can treat me when we get promoted etc etc) and told her straight that I don't like to be treated. But she insisted on her stand, and because we were in the office, I didn't want to press on.
But honestly speaking, I was pissed off.
Don't force a treat on me!
Is this a culture thing? Or a character thing?
------------------------Smelly, crowded, hot, dirty BKK
3:22 p.m. x 21.09.10
I'm back from Bangkok!
Yes, I came back alive.
It was....not as bad as I expected, but there were troubling moments too, moments where I felt out of place, where I felt lonely, where I felt (a little) misundestood. But overall, the trip ended well, all thanks to the very friendly female A11s.
They were really nice and tried to include me in their conversations and stuff. Every night, they'll gather at someone's room and just fool around with each other, talk and laugh in general. I tagged along with Fifi (a nickname, obviously) and just laughed with them tease each other so very openly. It's a kind of relationship not unlike those classmates share, and I wonder if by next year, the A10s will be like them. How did they manage to become so close despite working in different teams? I can't even get close to my lunch buddy despite seeing her in office everyday for the past 2 weeks. I don't even feel that we have enough in common to get along well. For one, she usually don't get what I'm driving at, especially the undertones of my words. Sometimes I get frustrated at that and just stop trying to communicate anything beyond courtesy.
Anyway.
I won't bother to blog in detail, especially those unpleasant moments. But I just want to pen it down that I made a wrong decision on the first day and the consequences of that decision kind of followed me throughout the trip, making me 'think too much' when someone said or did something that seemed to hint at that mistake.
Simple things like "where's xiao xiao mei?" and "you never buy anything?" kind of put me off as I got reminded of Day 1. I hate being in the spotlight or causing trouble to others, and on that one day, I managed to do both. T.T
I did quite a bit of shopping. It was quite scary because I realised that I bought ALOT of office clothes and very little personal ones. A change induced by work? And because I was shopping with the A11s, I didn't really buy much clothes of "my style" (i.e. Japanese inspired, loud, colourful, a bit childish clothes). For some clothes which I thought were nice, they commented that they looked too kiddish. And they're just a year older than I am. O.o
I also went for foot massage for both nights. XP Quite enjoyable, especially after a day long of walking.
Oh, we took a cab from Chatuchak Weekend Market to MBK on the second day. We had separated into 2 cabs, and the other cab's driver apparently drove the girls to the destination via a route that passed through the venue where the Red Shirts were gathering for their protest. It sounded quite overwhelming. At MBK, I discovered that two of the A11s liked Kpop. We were walking around when a Shinee (Korean group) MV started playing on the tv set. And immediately, we started watching. LOL. Next was a Super Junior one and we stayed on too, since we were waiting for the rest.
After food shopping at MBK, we returned to the hotel, did our foot/body massage and then left for Chinatown to eat some seafood. The cab dropped us at the road right between the 2 rival seafood restaurants. And it sparked off a crazy, loud battle for our business. Crazy! Seafood was ok...the fish was not descaled! And over there I appreciated the fact that some of the A11s remembered that I don't eat spicy food. =) And then we had bird nest before heading back to the hotel. We had a friendly, young driver for the return trip. VC mentioned that she heard "chelsea" on the radio in the cab, and that made the driver ask if we liked soccer. =P Finally, as we approached the hotel, the driver suddenly said, "lady boy" and started laughing amusedly. We looked out of the car and spotted a caucasian with 2 ladies. Or rather, lady boys. @.@ I was really amazed that the driver could tell just by the backview of the two. Amazing!
That night, at the regular hotel room gathering, I got to see again just how crazy the A11 girls are. Really, totally wild. Not even YY, SW, YH and I, at our secondary day prime can win their madness. Seriously. The energy is crazy.
For the last day, we slept in a bit, had our breakfast, and then checked out. Did some last minute shopping at Platinum Mall/Shopping Centre/Plaza/Whatever-the-name, ate A&W (YEAH!!!!!!!!), did even more last minute shopping, and then went back to the hotel to get onto the tour bus. I was quite surprised when one of the A11s sat next to me on the bus, because right behind me was another A11 sitting alone. I guess it's just another attempt to make me feel included? But it didn't make much difference cause we were all sleeping during the journey. The journey was quite an adventure. Two time the bus stopped, once by the roadside and once on the expressway. And there was this very loud sound of air being let out. Up till now I have no idea what happened, but we suspected that the tyre burst. We were quite worried that we'll have to get off the bus on the expressway and walk back, or that we'll miss the plane altogether. But fortunately, we managed to get to the airport on time.
The airport was where yet another big surprise waited. We were checking in our luggages. Then, the SIA personnel at the counter asked some of the A11s for their e-tickets because she couldn't find their names on the flight. We took out the e-ticket and found out that their tickets were for the following day! Not everyone was affected fortunately, and we managed to resolve it for the 5 unlucky A11s.
After a final meal of Mango Sticky Rice, we boarded the plane and reached Singapore after a short 2 hours flight. We landed at about 12 midnight, but I only reached home at around 230. It was mainly because we had to wait for people to collect their luggages and buy their duty-frees before we could take a group photo. I slept only 3.5 hours, and am very proud that I reached office at 845! But I needn't have came so early. None of my seniors are around so I'm basically taking my own sweet time doing the work I didn't complete last week.
And this explains why I'm blogging at this hour. shhhhhhhh
All in all, it was an ok bonding trip. Oh well. Looking forward to the new batch of A10s.
Photos to come soon, after I've settled down.
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Oh.no