Friday, November 30, 2007

Trouble With Monash

I was working on my assignment. Today is the submission day of my assignment. Usually I need to submit it before 5 pm to be on time. When I called Dawn at 4 pm to confirm the submission time, she told me that according to Australia time, the submission time is 3 pm Singapore time! Shock. Immediately I gave my final output on the assignment and went to MUSO @ www.monash.edu.sg to submit it. I could not get MUSO to upload my assignment for half an hour. I submitted my assignment via email to my lecturer instead. I prayed that it will work. I went to check my results. Distinction for my first module. Distinction for my second module. Fail for my third module...! Trauma. I almost thought that it was just a nightmare. How did I fail my third module without knowing it? 34/100. That's the mark I got for my first assignment of the module. My lecturer did not submit my results for the second assignment of the module. I realised I was done for. I did not kept a copy of my second assignment and its result. A & R season. I prayed that this is not the start of my trials and tribulations.

Posted by Benjamin at 5:00 PM

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Departure of Tamiya Man

Tamiya Man is leaving for Beijing @ China for a school project! I kept thinking that he left for his Tamiya car racing competition, but he was not! He already competed and got the ninth position in Singapore. I think I am losing touch with my cell group friends. I picked up Eliz Navida at Serangoon MRT station and started our usual friendly squabble over God knows what. I picked Superman athis house and Pearl at Punggol MRT station. Once again Pick-Up Man picked up everybody with his pick-up and saved the day! We ate our breakfast before Toilet Man joined us. The soya bean drink tastes like 1 x big straw. 70% water + 25% sugar syrup + 5% soya bean milk. We then went to the departure hall to find Tamiya Man. Took some photgraphs. He was expecting someone. She never came. Sad. Eliz Navida cried when Tamiya Man went through the customs. Really drama queen. The scene does like this. She runs through the customs with tears in her eyes. The policemen drag her back and call for help. She screams "Sa lang heyo!" (I love you in Korean) or "Ngo ngoi lei!" (I love you in Cantonese). Tamiya man takes out a piece of paper, writes something on it and put it in a Tamiya car. He set the car moving in Eliz Navida's direction, who picks it up and read the words on the piece of paper. She smiles, but when she looks up, Tamiya Man is gone. She burst into tears again, but this time with tears of joy. He wrote "wait for me".

Posted by Benjamin at 9:28 AM

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A New Beginning

Today is a new beginning for my career and marks the end of my tuition days! Maybe not the end, as I am expecting myself to continue teaching a couple of students for the sake of bread and butter, and commitment. Sometimes I cannot help but feel that life is about doing the things I do not wish to do. Some people tell me that I can decide what I want to do for my life. But that will be selfish. Maybe life is a combination of what I want to do and what other people want me to do. It really feels like straw to feel that I cannot decide what I want for my life. Might as well end it. I feel like a prawn. Just joking. I mean pawn. I think I am getting started on the holy trinity: I, me and myself. Talk about happy things. Overjoyed makes me overjoyed. Building a business with no liabilities means that I can take my time to do it. 8 am to 6 pm is not enough for me. I feel horrible when my working time is cut short. For once I feel that time is mine.

Posted by Benjamin at 7:13 PM

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Best Man (Again)

Today is my third brother's wedding. He chose this day to start his jail term for the simplest reason. 11/11 @ 11:11 am. I am the best man again. I deduced that if I am going to be the best man one more time, I shall be branded a bachelor forever and ever amen. On the positive side, being single and available allows me to earn extra cash even for a time like this. A red packet for being the driver. A red packet for being the best man. Two red packets for being the youngest in the family. We were at the door of the bride's room. Immediately after we knocked, bridesmaids and kids started screaming for money. I felt that this is different from other times. They spelt D.E.S.P.E.R.A.T.E. I cannot help but dislike the group of relatives that come into my life. I have heard stories about how they discouraged my sister-in-law-to-be to share her finances with my third brother and how they encouraged her to leave him when he was financially burdened. Things like this makes me think that having a girlfriend or a wife make my life feel like a straw. The wedding was held in a mini function room in The Florida @ Upper Serangoon Road. My third brother bought this condominium with his ex-wife. Money matters. Lawsuit. Divorce. money + women = straw. Period. A nun came to be the witness of the wedding. Funny thing was no one knows that she was a nun as she sounded like a monk. This is not a joke. I spoke to my second brother about my business. As a calculative man, he was very interested in how I earned my profits. I decided to tell him about my vision for the company instead. I hope that I can convince him that earning money is not our utmost calling in life. Fruitful and multiply. That's what the Bible says. I did not talk to my first brother. I cannot forget how he tries to use his 'strategy' to break my life. A man with great pride. He thinks that he can control people at his finger tips. One attempt is enough to deter me. I do not want to decide whether I should hate him or forgive him. I just want to focus on building my life and keep him out of my it. At least for now.

Posted by Benjamin at 11:11 AM

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Tamiya Man's Birthday

Tamiya Man held his 21st birthday party at Essential Brew @ Holland Village! Rumours said that the party cost more than a S$1000 to hold... wow! When I went to Superman's house to fetch, he was excited to share with me a new marketing strategy that he thought of. Hey Superman! Sunday our Sabbath day and talking about work is NOT ALLOWED lol! Oh well. That's what happens when you got your buddy, business partner and cell group leader in one package. However, the A & B season compels us to work even harder for ourselves and for the kingdom of God! We are also in the market when many big players like Pampers Mart, Mad Cow City and Artillery Enemy exist. We have to rise up fast, fight hard and put up a strong defense. Anyway. Our cell group members have reached before us. Daniel Wu, Eliz Navida, Hello Nurse and Matching Pipes were playing a board game. Once again, the courtesy of Hello Nurse turned Essential Brew into The Mind Cafe (again!). Halfway through the game, Tamiya Man requested that I entertained his classmates by teaching them how to play Bang!. For a moment I felt like a sheep sent into the midst of wolves. I was getting good at explaining the game. After the first round of play, they went autopilot and I took a break. I was losing my voice le. I played a couple of bridge with my cell group members before rain started to pour. That spelt B.A.D N.E.W.S. My pickup has no shelter! Eliz Navida and Pearl sat in front. Daniel Wu, Matching Pipes and Superman sat at the back with two pathetic umbrellas. As I drove, I commented that Superman falls sick very easily. Me and my big mouth. Eliz Navida and Pearl immediately scored their point as they pleaded to exchange place with Superman. Girls! Think of the big picture! I got another plan in mind. I drove back to home and changed a vehicle: my dad's car! I gave them dry towels, and a bottle of Sprite by accident (I was supposed to bring plain water =p). Nevertheless, bomberben saved the day once again and brought the people out of Israel into the land of milk and honey! Praise the Lord!

Posted by Benjamin at 6:19 PM