Im suppose to be working on my Biz Case,

but here I am writing on my blog instead. I guess whenever I feel happy or sad or bland or whatever, I just want to find some place to let it all out and my blog always seems like the best way to pour it all out. Typing away on my keyboard just comes so naturally. The keyboard neither discourages me nor encourages me to do anything. Everything is within my hands, right on my finger tips. I express everything in whatever way that I want to. I say whatever I want to (well, almost). It’s like being transported into another dimension, where you can just whine, moan, exclaim, be happy and no one is looking at you. (ok, there are alot of people reading, but its different as its not real time reading or real time talking) When you chat with someone, its more difficult to bring up stuff, well, at least for me lah …

here I just go on and on forever … and I fugure that is why alot of poeple think that my blog entries are extrememly lengthy. Perhaps, I am long winded, or perhaps I just like to explain everything properly. (haha .. reminds me of shallene … always explaining everything to everyone) …

recently did a validation survey for Emergenetics (helping Sharon) where we (a whole bunch of us) did a behavioural survey in English and Chinese … Results showed that I am not left brainer .. which means that I am not as logical or rationale as I thought I was. Perhaps I have changed … I think after listening to my mum and alot of other people more … I have learnt to trust my instincts alittle more … I remember I used to be a very logical and practical person. Everything must have a reason, everything must have a cause, everything must have a soultion and I must keep thinking about it till I get a solution befor eI can do anything. Now, I go by feel alot. Sometimes I just know that some things will happen. Sometimes I just now that I want something done and it happens … I can’t conclude that its good to go by feel or go by alot of thoughts, but I guess sometimes if we dun spend so much time thinking that maybe things will get done faster. I do agree that I think too much last time and now … hmm … more “feelings”. (“,)…

Kin Ching is away in Guangzhou … hope you are having fun there! Lee Tong just left tonight for Singapore. Have fun too!!! Glad u like ur T-shirt! So, the house is left with only 4 of us … min chuan, chin keong, yvonne and I .. shuhui is like staying over at a friend’s place for this period. Its a nice feeling … the peace … the quiet … the tranquality … its been along time since I have had such peace … guess that is one thing that I miss from Singapore … my very peaceful and quiet home …

anyhow, its only 3 more months before everything ends … like I said to many people, “I’m not in a rush to head back home.” Why? Well, there is just too many things here to do and be done compared to Singapore where everything will, possibly, come to a screeching stop and settle back into a boring mundane routine. All the pressures and stress of school will also come piling up again and that is so so very dull … at least here … school is part time and work is 3/4 time .. so hmm … it doesn’t make 1 … well, we still manage to find time to relax … even though we have biz case to settle, events to organize, work to do … here we dictate our time and there really isn’t very much other factors that we really need to consider. So looking forward to Friday when the dealine of the biz case is on then at least that part of the work is done … till the next submission …

it will also signal the start of the october holidays … this time around going to Jiu Zhai Gou with mc, yv, ck, yx, hx, hj for about 6 days and I am sooooo looking forward to a fun filled trip … this time as promised, its a small group … no more additional white hair caused from being too stressed with organizing for large groups … but I guess, if those large group tours never occurred, I would have nothing to talk about right???

The weather is really getting very nice and windy … to a little extent cold over here … this weather brings back memory of spring … when we were still alittle fresh and raw … not after 8 months, this place it like home (or 2nd home, since Singapore is still Home). The familiar house I stay in (Da Jia Yuan) … the familiar street I walk pass everyday on my way to the train station. The familiar faces I see on the bus every morning when I go to work. The familiar road I take every morning I take to the office. Thae familiar shop I buy my packet of Chocolate milk I take to office daily. Sometimes I wonder if these familiar faces remember me. Guess its true that everyday we pass so many people and even though we pass the same people everyday or regularly, we still only remain a familiar face … not more than a stranger … but I guess that’s fine, right? After all if we are to be friends to everyone we meet then I think we will be too tired being friends to everyone, especially in China where the population is soooo large and there really is tonnes of people everywhere …

its almost insane … every step u take walking down a street you would have to spend time to avoid bumping into people, or to avoid being hit by a motorcycle, a bicycle, or a vehicle. It seems and sounds dangerous to be walking on the streets in China, but in actuality, its really safe and I do believe that after so many months, I am well trained to walk the streets of Shanghai. I guess that’s why when my mother come she was afraid of crossing the road and she commented that I seem to not be bothered about the traffic. I guess after many months of seeing and hearing the same thing, I have grown to adapt to the streets of Shanghai. Loud horning, frequent stopping due to head on vehicles are so common. One rule applies on Shanghai roads – Whoever reaches there first, has the right of way.

Alot of the other ncs students have been talking alittle about re-entry shock when we get back to Singapore … lke how we will not be used to how slow the trains will be in Spore, or how slow the taxi drivers drive, or how expensive stuff will be in spore, or how quiet it will be in spore, or ow clean spore will be, or how empty spore will seem after China … I’m sure it will be a big surprise for me when I get back to Singapore and will definitely take time to get back into the culture back home. But to my friends, I am not chinafied totally yet … I still am quite singaporean, I hope! Still very Edwin … not sure how much I have changed … maybe never changed? that’s for you (as my friends) to comment on I guess as I would never realize if I had really changed or not … one thing I’m sure of is that I am still as “long-winded” as ever … and I still “blabber” on non-stop whenever I can about something under the sun.

Which is really very contradictory, cos’ the one flaw in myself that I forsee to be the greatest problem now and in the future is very very poor PR skills. I know some of you have told me that I’m really fine in that area, but I feel so so lacking … I forget people names so quickly … I so very often ran out of topics to talk about when I talk to people at biz sessions, I dunno what to ask them when I talk to them, I often fail to have intelligent conversation … sighs! … the root of the problem could be that I do not know enough to talk sense … and since I can’t talk sense then I end my telling myself not to talk to much … what to do? read more? I do read but then dunno why the mind is like a blank one … read liao then go out very fast also …

oh … dad mentioned that he might pop by to Shanghai in mid Oct … maybe he will really make the trip this time around … look forward to that … tmr got lesson @ Fudan … my first real lesson @ fudan as a fudan student (NVC dun count since its taught by NUS professor) … to immerse into the culture and get to know the local students … TALL order, at least for me … i find it soo difficult to click together with them. Considering the different natures … and the fact that my chinese is still as LAN4 as ever, its ever so difficult to have wonderfully effective communication. So, more often than not, just go to class try to understNd the lesson with my other Singaporean class mates than disappear from school … so sad … that’s one aspect of being in Shanghai that I never really tried to overcome … so far all the contacts and network I got only Singaporeans … like coming over to Shanghai to find a Singapore community …

but it really is easier to talk to Singaporeans, why? cos’ they all already understand a common lingo and there is less of a communication barrier. Also, mixing with Singaporeans makes u feel more at home and I guess that’s one reason why I dun miss Home that much … I am around Singaporeans enough not to feel home sick! my mother so farnie that day when I called her … she said “maybe its true that absences makes the heart grow fonder, see when you don’t see me you talk to me more politely, then when I was in Shanghai you more impatient with me” well … I told her that since she was in Singapore I did not have to tolerate her eccentricities every single day so I could be more patient and more polite … but if she was in Shanghai with me, then all her eccentricities would have just made me so impatient and intolerant. (Feel guilty for saying that, but it’s true) … I promise I shall be more tolerant and patient when I eventually go back to Singapore.

oooooo …. I have so rambled on for too long … go off liao …!!! (thks ppl for tolerating my blog!)