Universal Studio Singapore!!!

fun. Fun. FUN!!!

Yesterday was my first off-in-lieu from work~ and what better way to spend a weekday off than to do things that you normally avoid on the weekends (because you know its gonna be crowded af)? 

U.S.S. That's right! -AWESOME FUN-. 

Now I finally understand why people can go there over and over again despite the hefty price tag and expected queues. That being said, no weekends because if its already this crowded on a weekday, I can't imagine a weekend. *spare me*

SO, I started the day at 10 a.m. after a tiny breakfast at Vivo (2 half-boiled eggs @ Toast Box) and took the Sentosa Express (SGD$4)! We got our e-tickets the day before (from: https://www.klook.com/activity/117-universal-studios-singapore/) @ SGD$60 per normal admission which really cut a lot of hassle since we didn't have to do pick-ups.

Queue was long at the entrance, but it wasn't too bad. Got through with only about 10-15 minute wait, and we immediately walked right in to 'Far Far Away' (to escape the crowds). First couple of rides only took 5-15 mins wait which was mind-blowing, the longest wait was probably around 40 min. 

The rides/shows caught:
Enchanted Airways
*Puss in Boots Giant Journey
Treasure Hunters
***Revenge of the Mummy
**Battlestar Galactica (Human track)
**Water World (show)
**Lights, Camera, Action
Madagascar: A Crate Adventure
*Shrek 4-D Adventure
Accelerator 
Donkey Live (show)
*Transformers The Ride

Considering we only had about 8 hours, we accomplished quite a lot in a day!!! My personal favourite has to be 'Revenge of the Mummy'! It's one of the two 'exclamation' rides (the other being the Cylon path of Battlestar Galactica, which I unfortunately did not have the chance to take) and it was one of the most memorable ones I've taken. 

My 2nd favourite would have to be 'Lights, Camera, Action'. I wasn't expecting much from this one since its pretty much just standing there, but, wow oh wow. It was a nice & refreshing experience.

'Transformers The Ride' was the last ride we took before we ended the day, a note of caution to people with motion sickness like myself, they mean it when they say "People with Motion Sickness should not ride this". I took off my glasses before I put on the 3-D ones since I kinda knew what was coming, but it still made me feel quite sick after that. Apart from that, I think this ride would be an extremely thrilling and exciting experience for people who don't have the issue with motion sickness.

All in all, thumbs up for USS. I haven't rode roller coasters in 3 years and I'm glad I had the chance to ride to my heart's content. Will I head there again? - its a no-brainer, yes, Yes, YES.

The importance of negotiating your paycheck

If there is one thing new graduates should know, it is the importance of negotiating your paycheck.

In my quest to find my first job, I landed an internship within 2 weeks of arriving back home. I've always knew that intern pay never amounted to much, but I never realised that even as an intern, I could negotiate and get at least a decent intern pay. But I guess its partially due to the fear that I've built up within myself in the months up to graduation, I was almost 100% sure that I wasn't going to provide any value to the firm because I have NO experience in the industry. I had already prepared to fail. 

So the day of the interview came and everything went well, the employer was gonna hire me on the spot. There came the question, "what is your expected pay?". He was nice enough to ask me to name a figure, but instead of stating my stand, I left the final decision to the employer. It was the dumbest thing that anyone could have done.

In that very moment of leaving it open, I had not only lost the right to negotiate, but I had also shown the employer that I was uncertain of my self-worth.

Two months into the job, I found out how underpaid I was. It is an expensive mistake, but thank goodness this is only a internship.

Key takeaways:
Don't be afraid to negotiate a pay that both parties are comfortable with - A job is like a relationship. Don't be afraid to ask for your expected pay, if they are really interested in hiring you, they would negotiate with you.

Believe in yourself and your capabilities - you may not have the necessary experience at the start, but always remember, you will pick up the required skills and knowledge during your probation period, and you WILL BECOME worthy of the position. The interview is one of the best time to talk about your pay check, you don't always get a second chance like this once you've accepted the job.

Bonus takeaway: Never ask your fellow colleagues about their pay check. Even if your job scopes are the same/similar, you may not be getting the same rates as him/her. Be it which spectrum you fall into, it is not gonna do you any good knowing the actual figures - it will either kill your motivation or theirs at work.

Things to do in Japan

Photo Credits to http://japanlover.me/ 

Twenty Fifteen

Year 2015 - My 2nd and final year as a University of Melbourne student.

Twenty Fifteen is a special year in many different ways:

1 - It was my first ever time, living all alone in a single studio room. I remember the many times that I wondered if anyone would know if anything happened to me. With the balcony unlocked (there was no way to lock it), I slept many nights overthinking: 'what if someone climbed up and break in, what will I do?'. The craziness in every thought that made me fall asleep in fear that have now become memories to laugh at. 

But, it was through my stay in cobden (& mx) that I met Cher & Bee. And that became the best thing that happened to me in the year. :') They brought life to my solo-living, the videos we would watch during our dinners together from anime (fairy tail, soma, one-punch man) to cartoons (rick & morty) to etc... ('how its made', modern family, doraemon, dee kosh). Our 'fab' outings to town shopping. Grocery shopping trips. & not to mention, our doto sessions. There's just so many things to be thankful about when I think back, & the biggest would be being friends with you two. :')

2 - It's SG50. Fifty years of Independence with many many events, discounts and offers that I couldn't participate in since I was away in the country down under. It was also the year of the general elections, the 1st GE that I could have participated in but... oh well. 

3 - Graduation! Just 17 days ago, at the Royal Exhibition Building. Its so surreal. The past two semesters were filled with doubt, 'will I be able to graduate on time', 'I'm so going to fail my finance papers'. And there I was, on stage, receiving my certificate of completion of my degree. To be very honest, there was this part of me that wanted to drag out my degree, just so I could stay on for a little longer. I was afraid of leaving the student life and there was just too much uncertainty. 

Even now, I'm still afraid, but I believe, things will work out somehow. So thank you twenty fifteen for a fabulous year, here's to a brand new Twenty Sixteen and I'm sure you'll be a great year with many new beginnings! Cheers!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D:D

Travelling with a Teething Kid

Note (17 Oct 2016): Found the below note/rant that was kept on my Google Keep and thought it would be a memory worth looking back on in time. 

"NZ has been rather tiring, flying in on a midnight flight while having a teething niece. All she does these days is whine. Good gawd.

Sometimes i just wanna go do my own stuff y'know, being around family 24/7 is just too much."

The Cobden Potatoes

My fellow potatoes of Cobden... 

To all the times we spent in each other rooms, ranting about school and people, 

To all the times we played dota2 together in one room, igniting our inner demons of speech,

To all the times we had dinner together while watching random stuff from animes to dramas, 

To all the times we shopped together for groceries and clothing. 

Thank you. #26Nov2015 

Melbourne Uni Experiments

During my time at Uni, I had the opportunity to participate in a couple of school experiments (which gives out a minimum of AUD 10 for participation).

I was fairly impressed with this one, hence the detailed account I wrote on Google Keep on what I was tasked with and the results I got at the end of it, so here goes:

Task 1

You have 50 ECU. 

There is equal chances of succeeding or failing an investment. If you succeed, you get triple the amount you invested. If you fail, you get nothing. If you choose not to invest, you get 50 ECU for sure.

-(I INVESTED 15 ECU)

Task 2

Encoding. You can choose to do either activity 1, activity 2, both or neither. Earnings for task 2 will be the sum of the two activities.

In activity 1, you're paired with a random partner. You will get either get prize 1 of 250 ECU or prize 2 of 150 ECU. You can increase your chances of winning prize 1 by encoding more than your partner. 

(I encoded 22/23 words)

In activity 2, for each word you encode correctly, you get 1.25 ECU for sure (individual).

(I encoded 24 words = 30 ECU)

Your payment will be based on EITHER task 1 or task 2 chosen randomly by the computer.

EARNINGS: Task 2. 

- In activity 1, I got prize 1: 250 ECU 

- In activity 2, I got 30 ECU 

- Participation Fee: 10 AUD

Conversion Rate: 10 ECU to 1 AUD

Therefore, total earnings: 38 AUD

It was the most I had earned from an experiment, & I must say, it was also the most interesting (& intense) one that I've participated in. 