This week has been a good week….so far…(always good to retain some reservations regarding optimism). The firm had a free screening for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Gosh, that was a mouthful!) at Lido and my lovely senior gave me her free tix since I was so unlucky during the ballotting. Ks and I stupidly thought we could "save money" by getting a large combo set which neither of us had gotten before and seriously that combo is meant for GIANTS. Four of us shared the damn thing and we still couldn’t finish it. Anyway, I loved the movie. Damn funny. I know, it’s not meant to be funny but Johnny Depp really cracked me up! "The Bretheren" people were hilarious as well. The ending was kind of unexpected but predictable nonetheless, on retrospect.

Then by yesterday morning, I was able to finalise all the comfirmable parts of my trip next week such as visas, air tix, train tix, insurance, itinerary & accomodation. It felt reallllly good because the same time last week I was feeling really lousy about myself for not being able to secure a lot of the stuff. So then, it’s settled, I’m flying off on Monday…whee!!! Ok the FUNNY thing about my accomodation is that 4/5 of my accomodation is with Indians! Soooo coincidental, eh? The first time I called each of them, I was a little taken aback.

"helloooo…. kaun heh?" (hello, who’s this on the line - in hindi)

Had I called India by mistake and not Switzerland? After all, country code for India is 91 and Switzerland it’s 41. Each of them was able to tell I was Indian (probably cos I was haggling, lol) and offered me discounts and Indian food (not that I was actually enticed by the offer cos I’m not looking to eat Indian food there but it was nice of them).

Yesterday night was greaaat too! My lovely manager treated my team to dinner and drinks at New Asia Bar. It has been quite some time since I last went there. I think it was quite a few months ago, once with R and another time with Tby. Apparently there’s no more cover charge? Anyways, had a good time - 4 bottles of champagne, severals rounds of shots and *seaweed martinis* and good finger good - couldn’t get better. And got to know of a certain database portal (ahem) - very informative…haha. Didn’t take any pics but here’s one of the skyline I took a loooooooooong time ago.I love the view from Swissotel, think F1 lovers will find it a great hit!

Jo likes to shop shop shop. But What do I do when there’s nothing worth shopping for?!?!?

I know what you’re thinking…GSS Sales…late night shopping….how can that be right?

Mid week, before I met Tby, I managed to get some reallllllly goooood deals. Got 70% off on a skirt at FCUK and 70% of shoes at JWEST. Then, Hynz, Ks and I met up on Friday for bitching session (about all too familiar certain people) and after that late night shopping and it was disastrous. Ks and I walked from one end to the other and found NOTHING decent. Even FCUK had shity clothes when we went in. The stuff I wanted at topshop and Forever 21 all ran out of my sizes. Then I realised, it was toooo late! Defeats the purpose of late night shopping! Aaaargh! KS and I managed to find the exact shoe we’ve been searching high and low for at Aldo but the bloody shoe is toooooooo high, even for me, a high-heels addict. I’m practically as tall as Ks with the shoes on and I have to frantically balance myself when taking them off so I realised it’s probably not a good buy.

Anyway…I’m sick now. So I had to turn down R yesterday night for clubbing at some Bhangra night (not that I would have gone if I wasn’t sick either cos I’m not really into bhangra) I’m feeling very drowsy cos of the medicine but I have to force myself to stay awake to plan the Swss trip to the finest detail. But I’m soooo exasperated. It was one thing to plan a backpacking trip to Europe with friends….but it’s another thing altogether to plan a low-budget trip there for a family. Praying that everything goes smoothly from now on….my costs are escalating by the SECOND……Arrrrgh!

Finally, Hynz got the lazy bum Ks to sign up for the exams in Dec. Now we can study together! Hynz is most prob gonna take up the classes cos she said all her colleagues took it in Dec last year and only one guy passed so apparently it’s pretty difficult. Ks and I are gonna give the classess a miss cos we can’t committ. Our schedules are erratic and not predictable enough to committ. Like for these two months I’ve been really lucky with a cushy 9-5 job with lovely seniors and manager but other times I may not be so lucky, even extending to wee hours of the morning throughout the week. Sooo probably gonna start studying once Ks comes back from her holidays. Heh.

My apologies for not updating…been really busy running LOTS of errands.

Friday was a gooooood day. I finally caught BOTH Hynz and Ks for a pampered lunch session. Heh, and Ks and I mostly rotted through a fire drill and spring cleaning session. Then we went for threading and then topped the day off by going to St. James. This time I went to the Gallery Bar cos the firm had booked the place. I personally think the place is very cool cos you can "look down" ala a gallery (hence the name) on all the clubs below. And it’s pretty laid back. Just that the music ain’t very good. We had thought it was free flow of housepours and food the whole night but most of it was gone by 9! Crapz….but still saw some *ahem* people getting drunk. Funny stuff. There was ONCE I lost my footing on the stairs and slipped and some drunk dude YELLED hey she’s drunk. Tsk Tsk. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Anyway….the big news of the week is that I’m going to………….

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Switzerland!!!

Yup. My leave application for first two weeks of June FINALLY got approved. My tix from LA got rejected but I managed to get tix to Zurich and back. BUT because it’s sooooo late and it’s the bloody holiday season, everything is in a mess. In particular, VISAs are a bloody big problem. Not for me and my dad, but my mom and bro who hold Indian passports, it’s a real headache. I’m spending half my time battling with the various embassies and the rest of my time planning the damn trip. It’s going to cost a BOMB. Even though I redeemed my air ticket miles, the airport taxes are a real killer. So bloody expensive!!! Right now the biggest problem is still the VISAs - the others are elementary. SIGH………

Who said Auditors can’t have fun? Woo hoo…loved this week. Been great, ending at 6 on most days promptly which gave me ample time to do lots of things like

- shopping

- meeting up with Tby

- exercising (ok fine, i didn’t go to the gym but i swam….twice)

- chilling out with colleagues

- Welcome back gathering for MxchelleChia!

First we went to Goodwood Park Hotel. JasxnLee’s food recommendation sucked….for once. For that kind of money, the buffet is totally not worth it. Food’s totally crap and selection is really limited. Don’t bother wasting money on this one…

Next we went to the Clinic. It’s insy winsy compared to MoS of course, but the music is good after several hours. LOL, cos before the trance music comes on, they play shity retro. After that we headed to Pump Room which I totally cannot stand. I’m sure it’s a hot favourite with many people but I cannot relate to RnB music at all, which is all they play there. Bleargh. Then everyone went off and I met R and we went back to the Clinic where really good music was playing. Haha, sure made my money worthwhile then.

Me and HOT HOT Michelle

Attack of the Best Friends

Buffet @ Goodwood Park

Group shot outside Goodwood Park

Group shot @ the Clinic

Michelle and Me

Such excited faces

Alex is so happy

Woo Hoo. I feel liberated cos I handed in my thesis this morning and my shityard job is somewhat over. It’s the end of a shity (albeit short) week. For the first time I experienced what it feels like to be the last person to leave the office. On May Day I caught Spiderman 3. We had to go all the way to Tiong Bahru Plaza. Worse than betting that Great World City would be the last place where moviegoers would go. Apparently not. Even at TBP we had to scramble for the tickets. Anyway, the movie was good. A little too long if you ask me but the play on the emotions and less focus on the baddies was good. Kirsten Dunst is still as ever just a wanna-be pretty face. No value add.

The stupid part? I got free tix to my firm’s screening of Spiderman tomorrow. !@#%#^&@! I should have just tried my luck with the Pirates of the carribean screening instead.

I’ve given in. I’ve caved to the pressure of leggings and short dresses engulfing the fashion world. I was holding a steadfast bias against leggings but now I’ve just given in. And apparently a lot of people pointed it out to me this week - looks like I’m really known for my "steadfast beliefs"….and they took such pleasure in pointing out that I’ve thrown up my "steadfast beliefs". Pffffffffffffffffffft.

I’m having trouble selling off my Dopod 838Pro. I’m driving away all my stingy potential buyers too. Bah. At least I’ve gotten the Shopaholic and Baby book off my shelf. Can someone help me with selling off ym shity phone…I need money to go shop!

Well well well. I’m enjoying the last few days of my glorious "high-life" (as Hynz terms it) before I return to the shiTyard on Wednesday. It’s disgusting that I’m back again and yet always took such joy in telling the client I won’t be coming back. I said that to them 5 times and all 5 times I was wrong, so I give up saying goodbye. I’ve taken leave tomorrow to finish up my thesis and biz plan. So dumb, leave is supposed to be for resting and relaxing and yet I find myself getting frenzied over the absolute details of another last-minute job. And then, it’s back to work on Wednesday. I’ve been throughly enjoying myself over the past 2 weeks, promptly ending at 530 everyday and having not a care…but now it’s time to return to the shity days at the shiTyard.

Whatever. I have watched two good movies recently, one called "Partition" (starring Kristin Kreuk from Smallville) and the other called "Provoked" (starring Aishwarya Rai *screams*). Both are british films about India/Indians. Partition is about (duh) the partition between India and Pakistan in 1947. A Sikh guy falls in love with a muslim woman but the story ends in tragedy because once the woman finds her family back in Pakistan, she is not allowed to return to India because her family hates the sikhs.

Provoked is about a landmark case in Britain (Regina v. Ahluwalia) which gave new meaning to the word provocation. It’s about this woman who was continuously tortured, abused and raped for 10 years by her husband and one day she snaps and sets him on fire, killing him. She is initially jailed, on a murder charge, but soon learns English and earns the respect of her fellow inmates and finds the courage to go on a retrial, during which the motion was reversed and provocation was redefined. I have to forgive myself (a huge Aishwarya fan) but I have to say that she really sucks at acting in English films. Hynz, who watched the film with me, says it’s probably cos’ we’re more used to watching her in Hindi flims and we’re not giving her a chance….but I don’t know…

I’m now awaiting the International Flim festival, a good time to check out some German films, though I have to admit, I’m not excited about watching black and white films. Hopefully there are some "modern" films to watch. Hynz and I are also waiting for Ks to be free (she’s suffering with her "low-life" cos’ her peak is far from having ended) to watch Ta Ra Rum Pum. I can’t wait… I think its gonna be great, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta. Hopefully next weekend.

Sorry, I cannot find too lazy to find a picture of the partition poster. Anyway, watching Provoked got me reminded of case law. I used to think I was great at case law (corporate) since I eagerly took all the law modules in Uni (they really should have at least given me a minor in business law) but now I realise I truly suck at it. There is sooooooooo much I don’t know! My partner rattled off some cases, asking us if we knew any of them and their significance on auditing and guess what - I knew none of them. I felt really stupid, to say the least. It’s even more embarassing to note that I’d taken all the law modules I could lay my hands on during uni.

Anyway, on his recommendation, I read a couple of books which have given me more insight. "The number" by Alex Brenson is really good. I’ve just gotten started on "Barbarians at the gate", which is turning out to be a good read too. Definitely a change from my usual gossip fodder/chick lit reads, ala Shopaholic and Baby (I love Sophie Kinsella to absolute bits and by the way I was almost rolling on the floor when I read her latest book).

I’m so free I do useless stuff - like making lists.

What I’ve spent on in just one week

• Retro dress from Forever 21
• Top from Mango
• Skirt from Warehouse (which I’ve been craving for like 2 months and I grabed it at 70% off!)
• Nokia E65 (Yes, I’ve finally decided to sell off my Dopod 838 Pro and settle for an idiot-proof phone - my dad’s right - I’m too stupid for the phone)
• 2 storybooks
• Pants from Mango
• IPL treatments (I knew I was getting conned but I knowingly fell for the marketing gimmicks)
• Face care products (which I realise I have no discipline to use regularly enought for them to work)
• Hair cut and rebonding
• Countless Eelingos (fav drink of myslef, Hynz and Ks)
• Several ben & Jerry’s. (couldn’t help myself, they were on sale!)
• Pigging out
  - Olive Tree Buffet Dinner - Intercontinental Hotel (sux by the way but agin just had to use my voucher)
  - Ritz Carlton Buffet Dinner - Absolutely splendid but crazily expensive at $65 per person! (I went there 2 years ago it was $36 so I thought it’s the same but when I got the bill my jaw literally dropped cos that was the amount just for the service charge!)

I’m really too free. I’m actually re-editing the stuff I already did at work. Madnes!

I’m a sucker for marketing gimmicks. I hate marketeers and glib salesgirls. Arrrrgh…