incidentally, for our 25th month anniversary, Nigel and me got a wedding package from "Bliss". 

it's $3188, for almost everything. so exciting....

Its been 2 weeks since i started working as a pharmacist...(no preceptor lurking nearby to countercheck my mistakes). felt a bit unsettling at the beginning...very scared that i made mistakes, i keep staring at the prescriptions, again and again, even after the customers left, to double check and triple check.

Been asked to join this and that, biggest being the Sales performance team....to announce incentives to my zone (north and west). And join the planning for family day for Dairy Farm Group. then also to commit to wanting to be a preceptor. so i get trained up as soon as i have 18months of working experience. (which also happens to be the time my bond ends! so i'll be entering into another "bond", this time unspoken and unwritten)

the weekend before i started work, i got a call on saturday night (when i was in malaysia, slacking away). "Grace, can you work tomorrow? Night, Centrepoint?"

wow my first ehass (overtime) at my training store...and i get paid the highest overtime pay? plus i'm not working till tuesday...so i went...despite my splitting headache. by the way, the headache was really bad, i had to take codeine to stop it, panadol didn't work.

been to 4 stores already. Admiralty place, Chinatown point, Ang Mo Kio again, and my own store, only 3 times. my store is the busiest....you go there, you talk non-stop, and also walk alot...otc is so far away.

but thanks to my exposure at admiralty, i really appreciated how neat, busy and organised my store was. but with that comes heavy responsibility. i have to take care of diagnostics, eye, otc, surgicals, homecare, bascially everything medically related except for vitamins. i haven't even got used to my pharmacy...need more time at my own store....why aren't they doing it. now i know chinatown point better....gosh.

oh, and i noticed that our darker counterparts always come for nizoral shampoo for dandruff, and the even darker counterparts always come for Colimix for gas. Its so common sense right...given their lifestyle. And the best part... are the new race: Chinese Chinese. they look for weird chinese medx in a western med store. and they doubt the recommendations i give...e.g. Rhinathiol promethazine is the most sought after medicine among locals. doctors give them that most of the time and they dig it. but HSA says not recommended for below 5yrs old. but doctors still give give give. pharmacist always try hard to recommend a more accurate remedy. So i recommended it to the chinese, and she asked me, "is it really effective?"

i fainted on the spot. Someone actually rejected Rhinathiol Promethazine!!!

nothing to do today, so i went to do all the quizes on facebook.

What kind of hair suits you?

The rihanna/victoria beckham look

What kind of girl are you?

the girl everyone loves to be around. 

Which disney princess are you?

you're Mulan.

You are the self-made princess and the epitome of the modern woman. Beautiful and refined, you are capable of saving any situation, be it your family or your country. You don't need a prince to save your ass. The damsel in distress situation does not apply to you. Your true love is whoever is strong enough to match your intellect. In other words your prince doesn't pick you, you pick him. You're Mulan!

What will you get married?

In 1 year and 9 months

How many children will you have?

3, in the order of girl, boy, boy

What kind of mum will you be?

The MLIF. 

Very sad................i think i failed my viva...couldn't think....why didn't they test me on product knowledge? i spent 1 month to research on all the feminine products and otc medx during my "free" time. none came out. come on, test me on how to use Persona, or the differences between all the vaginal washes....you evil examiner, know that i'm good with product knowledge, then purposely didn't give me any questions on them....

then i also failed the operations questions....what do you do when a boy trips and falls when you are stacking stuff, or what do you do if customer got avandia 8mg instead of 4mg on the prescription? metal block.....block, just looking at the chief preceptor's face makes me stiffen. then after that i could think for all the POM medx. i got Cordarone...with super complicated DIs with warfarin, imdur, zocor, captopril. then sporanox with prednisolone, Fe, Ca, antacid, amoxicillin. next, cardura with lipitor, lipanthyl, losartan....btw, does cardura cause hemmorhoids?

in my heart i was already crying, already gave up. *tears stream down*

Took some personality tests, (you know, with Pre-reg ending, opportunities are opening up again)

People with blue Interests like job responsibilities and occupations that involve creative, humanistic, thoughtful, and quiet types of activities. Blue Interests include abstracting, theorizing, designing, writing, reflecting, and originating, which often lead to work in editing, teaching, composing, inventing, mediating, clergy, and writing.

People with yellow styles perform their job responsibilities in a manner that is orderly and planned to meet a known schedule. They prefer to work where things get done with a minimum of interpretation and unexpected change. People with a yellow style tend to be orderly, cautious, structured, loyal, systematic, solitary, methodical, and organized, and usually thrive in a research-oriented, predictable, established, controlled, measurable, orderly environment. You will want to choose a work environment or career path in which your style is welcomed and produces results.
(The Princeton review)



Grace, the right jobs for you would allow you to be Strategic and Creative
With your skills, you could be earning up to $200,000 per year.
As a Strategic type, you want to be able to express yourself and your ideas through work. Sure there's a time and place for rules and procedures, but when a good thought strikes you, you don't want it to be boxed into one way of thinking. You're willing to go outside the rules if there's a chance that the risk will reap big rewards.You are stronger than most when it comes to generating ideas. And because of this, it might sometimes feel easier to take on all aspects of a job yourself instead of wasting time explaining it to someone else who might not "get it" like you do. But because you have so many ideas and are willing to take on so much, you might find that you sometimes have trouble finishing every project you start. Your diplomacy and adaptability make you a valuable asset. But your need to feel invested in a company that allows you to express your original ways of thinking will ultimately impact how happy you are in the workplace. (tickle.com)

Please please help me send to friends to do this survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=cwssrKz6SnEX85syh_2bUETQ_3d_3d

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Broken glass that can stab, Street artists who move 1 cm/second, and great fish and chips from the Cathay cinema

photos from usp commencement at http://nus.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8847&l=c8fce&id=550432789

photos from commmence at
http://nus.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8524&l=6928a&id=550432789

everything's wrong with me these days:

like i left my laptop on for more than 24 hours becoz i forgot to check if it has totally shut down, apparently norton has prevented it...

then at work i've been forgetting to check the expiry dates of off-the-shelf products when i type their presciption, pasted the dispensing summary on the drug and vice versa, calling super busy outlets to check for certain meds, when i finally get thru, i forgot to ask them to reserve it for me, then when i finally get thru again, i forgot the patient's name.....stupid stupid stupid

feel like i'm getting stupidder by the day, and worse now that i've stopped all other activities, just to concentrate on work. and to top it up, i've been getting tension headaches every morning (hurts more then i climb the overhead bridge too fast or when i strain myself in the toilet, that's the worst, and when i look at my preceptor...) that kinda explains why i'm getting the headache...and no, panadol doesn't help, i just have to re take it every day, and again after lunch, when walking back to work.

ads nowadays are atrocious...haha...i saw this box, empty, in my flat...

it says "be safe" then "use protection"

then you see a sillouette of a couple.

then "for long lasting pleasure"

i was shocked.....

at the bottom of the box it says, warning: this product is not a method of contraception.

Guess wat is it

Weeks ago,

i think 3 weeks,

there was a fiesta at Xenbar. it was a dress-up fiesta/performance week/salsa congress for xenbar.

first up we had a pirate costume, with swords...not bad...can't find a picture with my boots though.

next we had the back to school theme... which i aced...two pony tails, and glasses...haha. but almost all pictures i take with deflyn turn out nice. =)

then also, we had a competition, only mentally prepared for 3 hours....that;s all. must say my partner did well for his first competition, he was totally nervous. but at least i'm okay with the costume, and its not some red leather/boy scout costume....e.eeeeee.....i like the top. and we got second.

Your Hidden Talent

You have the power to persuade and influence others. You're the type of person who can turn a whole room around. The potential for great leadership is there, as long as you don't abuse it. Always remember, you have a lot more power over people than you might think!

What's Your Hidden Talent?

today i discovered what a godsend stockings are...they preent your feet from blisters and protect your blisters (if its already too late, which for my case, is). and a change to slippers for breaks and after work...once again, my mom is right.

and marsiling is not that bad... at least i get a seat on the mrt, all the way to orchard.

found myself working my brain from it's sleep and rust on the first day. i reach my branch, pharmacist ask me what's the diff between seretide and ventolin....

what happened in my mind was....seretide...seretide...how do i spell it....ventolin...what does venolin contain ah....clogs start to roll....seretide...ventolin...seretide ventolin...then with blur face...aiyoh...so embarrassing. then slowly, i regain my memory...now still oilling the rusty clogs...

spotted expired box of medicine while doing the "tasks" that my preceptor set me. yeah!! scores points.

and i realised that levitra (similar to viagra) has braill on the packing...wonder why...levitra might cause some visual disturbances...braill..visual disturbance...hmmm...

feet still aching...ouch ouch...hungry hungry too, no snacks..

before i forget, i mut tell everyone my posting...for now till end of aug i'll be at gleneagles, then i'll be at ang mo kio till new year, then centrepoint all the way... yah.

Today Nigel and I taught our first rueda class.

it so happened that the NUS students union wanted to do a salsa mass dance for their orientation camp this year. and they had one session of boring, dry, basic salsa which they did not enjoy. the person who taught it, neither me nor nig can identify. but bearing in mind the lessons for our previous attempts to teach salsa (in one session to utter beginners), we decided to teach rueda. and not only that, we kept in mind the objective of the mass dance. that is, to have fun and interact.

we gave much thought on what to teach, and the level of difficulty of each move. conclusion was, "dame" was the most difficult step the beginners can handle. we shall not try to overload them with enchufla and what nots.

i started the class at the very very basics. i got the ladies to face the guys, and stand on the left, while the guys do the same. then, without holding hands, do the basic guapea footwork, emphasising that it;s just a walk. Reminder to myself: do not jump into hands after this. you have to get them to do just basic, and with music, and at normal speed. it's okay to send 15mins on this alone. it's very important for the beginners to get orientated and get the feel of salsa.

then teach hands: do a c shaped swing inwards, with the guys' left hand, on 1,2,3. on 5 ,6,7, use right hand pull the girl in then out. run thru a few times....then point out that the guys have to step outside on 5, so that they dont step on each other's feet. run thru until normal speed is achieved.

DAME
explain Dame=give me one==change partner. then show difference from basic, which is only on 5,6,7, guys use left hand to push girls away. and both end up facing "in front" on 1.

form circle. do basic. do dame, now end up facing center of circle.

teach basic again, highlighting difference for guys (guys noew step forward instead of back on 1). 1,2,3...1,2,3...1,2,3....then tell girls to face guys on 3... but guys stay. then tell guys to have right hand behind girls by 3, and girls left hand on this shoulder. on 5, gently push the girl across yourself, bring her to the left, and face her on 7. (cross body lead footwork too diff for them, girls can handle footwork though). then repeat basic.

try at slow speed, then faster, then try with slow music, then normal...another 30 mins burnt here...

FUN
after every one has gotten the toughest step (dame), tell them that rueda can be very fun... introduce Una Bulla (shout), cucharacha, and Fly, Fly dos. for Fly, dont need to do 5,6,7 after clap. let them wait and then start on next 1.

after they master all those, you can try dancing to La Bomba...it has very strong beat, and very "high" feeling, leaves beginners very satisfied and accomplished...

Tada....Salsa mass dance in 1 hour

just came from breakfast at LJS. it's super filling!! but the good thing is the butter is really thick, and the french toast is cinnamon powder sprinkled over it....yumm! no pictures though.... sorry.. just thought all of ya show go to LJS for breakfast more often? and boycott Macs....yeah..boycott Macs....

Finished... today i've finally finished watching Da Chang Jin. took me one week, everyday 10 episodes.

and i have arrived at a conclusion, VCDs or DVDs are bad. they are bad for you, bad for your eating habits, bad for rest, bad for health. and so i fell sick too. then i couldn't do to my dad's hometown which is very much further than KL to attend some relative's wedding. then he got very pissed, saying we always find excuses not to go. not only that, i also forgot about joyce's performance. feel so bad, cannot go for performance and i made my dad angry also. only consolation is that i can accompany my mom who would have been alone at home if i went too.

YQ's salsa congress is in 8days. the congress is the week that my work starts. this time i can't be going around to perform at various clubs and venues partly because of work, and also because my partner is also very busy. so no time too practise. and he doesn't like the way things are done.

i remember feeling like this last year...the classes which i went to were repeats, and it really felt like a waste of time. but, the truth is, you can never do it perfect, and you can't expect to learn something new in every class. everytime we have new members, we have to revise all the steps again, at a very slow pace, and we'll get impatient. when the "new" members from last time commented about this, i cannot help but laugh to myself, "well, at least you are going through this one less time" there are a few ways to react. one is go for every practice, and put patience to the test. the next way is to lessen the burden of the teacher, teach it instead. the last, is don't come.

we all know which way is the best. but if you don't have enough "free" time, then don't come. the most economic way is the second though it requires more patience than from the first and time, which the third cannot afford.

everytime i come to such a junction, i'll find myself rethinking why i like salsa so much. at first, it was the chance to dance. now i have achieved that, i can social dance anytime. but it's not enough for me. when i see my classmates being so successful in applying for pHDs and places in MNCs, i feel that i should be able to achieve something as worthwhile as well. then people will come and tell me working at guardian has no future to it. an SMU lecturer said, even if you move into a managerial position, that's the furthest you can go...how sad is that?

what am i to do? work starts in one week. some of my classmates have already started work. i want to establish myself as a salsa instructor too. but how? i have to gain some "championships" under my name. it's so difficult to do that, i never had the luxury of preparing for my competitions. i would fall sick under stress. and i'm not a talented dancer, i have to do it by diligence. diligence needs time. but everyone only has 24 hours and Grace has to get enough sleep everyday otherwise she will fall sick.

how how, so depressing. can't do anything right