Lately

it's been a long time! first time getting home before 7 since coming back from KL, i think i'm officially absorbed into the cruel rat race of corporate world! basically, work is a life long game, up till retirement age....

actions to gain points:

1. stay extra late every night, best if everyone sees you still working while they pack.

2. ask extra many questions even though you're not really interested in the work.

3. engage in random conversations with colleagues, feel at ease while talking to them.

4. work hard, study hard. no play.

5. sacrifice social life in the evenings, since your social circle is in the office.

6. suck up to managers no matter how much you hate the irritating ones.

7. attend all drinking sessions, mingle with the rest, and get as wasted as possible.

new office new desks new chairs new monitors...

i think i can go on and on about what i dislike about the corporate world lol... then again it's not ALL that bad sometimes. probably i'm still in denial of the fact that i'm going to do almost the same thing for the rest of my actuarial career, which right now it doesn't seem like it's gonna last too long hahaha. well, to be fair, all corporate firms are probably similar... one thing about working in a consulting firm is that we're working for clients and so we have to enter timesheets. all levels of employees have a target of chargeable hours to meet (ie working on clients' stuff), so whenever there's clients' work, some ppl tend to hog everything to themselves showing their selfish sides. then they end up juggling a nonsensical amount of work and stay late. now, this is what partners love to see... haha staying late is equivalent to enthusiastic and proactive employees. those who pack and go at 5.30 shall look forward to unfavourable appraisals :P i always feel the guilt whenever i leave earlier than 6, thing is, it's officially off working hours! but because of the unhealthy work culture, ppl have this false impression that 'early' leavers are lazy, then again they were not in yet when those came in earlier than 9.30. where's the fairness... i once saw a guy hanging around doing literally nothing work-related but just plainly surfing the internet for one whole hour before he started packing. in my mind, i just thought how sad this soul was... just go home!

there's a perception in asia that westerners are slackers who don't really work hard, i can declare that is totally wrong! ppl here DO work really hard and late, hmm probably not as late as in asia though hehe... sadly, i'm not paid overtime :( can't wait for the new grads to come in, at least i can dump all the dull jobs to them hehehe. this is what grads are for, i've already had my fair share of crap work... (and quite a few nice ones in between)

the breakout area with plasma tv - only shows bbc news though! took this one night when i had to work late and not many ppl left hehe

haha maybe i really shouldn't complain so much, i admit having found a job here is a good kickstart of my career... but every now and then i ask myself why i'm stressing myself out doing extremely tough actuarial exams while i know i'm not going to work in this career for the rest of my life. just for backup, i reckon :P my housemate and i were just moaning, there's no work/life balance - only work/study balance. being typical asians, we're moulded into emphasising on the importance of giving the best shot towards exams and stress the hell out of ourselves to achieve our goals. at the same time, the passing rate for actuarial exams - often a very 'generous' 30 odd %, certainly does not permit us to wish for passes every single time... my weekends are already fully devoted to studying, and of course occasional chilling (for few mins haha...) plus groceries shopping. the terrible feeling of guilt starts gnawing once i spend a wee bit more time not studying - it's bad, really bad. but the harder to the goal, the more ppl want it, such is life...

study day tomorrow... friend coming from oxford on fri, before going home for good... and back to routine on weekends. i seriously think i save more money here than back at home! :)

on a side note, i've been listening to Jay's 不能說的秘密 and Hin's 酷愛 lately, highly recommended! leehom's latest album is pretty crap methinks... only 1 nice song, he's trying too hard to sound western =_= but personally it didnt work out his way. he looks good on the album cover though!

watching 歲月風雲 too, the tv company is quite smart to include both hk and mainland actors so as to capture the entire chinese market haha. just finished 2nd episode, i guess i'm on par! plot seems really interesting given it's a big production series, and it's gonna be 60-ep long, oh no... my friend just gave me a new nickname as tvb-itionary :P

ps: anyone knows why my spacing doesn't turn up after posting? i've been trying to rectify this prob since day 1 lol

pps: bought a few gigantic strawberries few weeks back - they were almost as large as apples! scary yet shocking haha. i'm pretty sure they were genetically modified cos werent too sweet :P and cost a freaking 35p - RM2.50 EACH!