for the past week...

right, it has been awhile since i blogged. but i do have alot to write, complain and say. so here it goes!

firstly, which is a very important matter and it's not a complain is that God answered the questions that i had on my mind since i came to london through sunday's message. in fact, i believe that sunday's message was specifically for me! in a nutshell, wat's on my mind is bout getting a job, whether i should serve in a ministry in london and wat's in store in the future in general... these 3 specific questions that i had on my mind was 'answered' in sunday's message. i feel very relief (which is an understatment) that God answered my prayers. but i got to admit that i'm still anxious bout it becoz it's not that i don't have the faith to claim and believe it (i am claiming and believing) but it's becoz i'm not sure what it is. i know that i will get a job by the end of next week, but i am not sure what sort of job. but i am glad that i will be getting a job. praise God. and concerning a ministry, anyone who knows what i am talking bout, please give any suggestions...

now, for the complains! i went out to get a mobile and a line yesterday. i wanted to subscribe to THREE becoz it's cheap and has 500 free mins but i couldn't becoz i failed the credit check. apparently, my bank account has to be at least 3 months old (which it's not) before i can subscribe to most mobile network. this totally suck becoz how am i going survive the next 2-3 months without a mobile. and i tried getting a pay-as-u-go SIM card today, and i couldn't get it becoz i don't have a credit/debit card to apply for one from FRESH, CARPHONE WAREHOUSE has run out of pay-as-u-go SIM and to get a THREE pay-as-u-go SIM, u need to purchase their phone. this totally suck!

the next complain is bout my bank. apparently (i have been using this word very often ain't i?), i can only get a debit or credit card after 3 months becoz they have to monitor my credit standing first. great! more inconvenience!

well, i have been pretty quiet in london... no job, no mobile, no credit card... life should be more exciting when i get all these!

goodbye.

job hunting...

i am not writing this to complain, but i just wanna write down my job searching experience so far. firstly, i got no job searching experience to start with and this makes it so tough. not to mention that i am looking for a job in london. nothing wrong with that except that i believe it's different and tougher than in singapore. coz there are definately more people here looking for jobs. both full-time and part-time.
i think most of the people here do their job application through an agency. there are many many agencies here in london. and some agencies only have jobs in the local area where they are located. and some only specializes in a particular industry.
and the job positions usually states very specifically what are the experiences, qualifications and other skills needed. and also if it's temp or perm.
and basically, i applied for jobs that wants an analyst or researcher in an investment bank, temp data entry and short term temp. i also applied to alot of banks... and the most positive news so far to date is from deutsche bank. the replied i got was that they will go thru my CV see if there's any position available for me and that they will get back to me 3 weeks later.
hopefully, i can get a job in deutsche coz i wanna work in a bank and gain valuable experience. but till i get a reply, i still got 3 weeks to kill and i need a job for that 3 weeks too...
well, enough said, i am going to continue spamming job agencies...
i wish everyone who's reading this a nice day and many smiles...
=)

13th-16th Sep

i spent 4 days in Paris with my mum and sister. we took the Eurostar and arrived in Paris within 2-3 hours.
and the first place that we went were Galeries Lafayette which is a megabig superstore that is even bigger than Harrods! it wasn't plan but it just happened to be near to where we stayed and we decided to drop by. and after that, my sister went to a flea market which wasn't very impressive. but oh well, that's the nature of touring.
the next day, we went to notre dame, the louvre, aves des champs and arc de triomphe. actually, i have been to all these places except the louvre and it stayed that way because the louvre is closed on tuesday! so next time, if u r planning to go to Paris, please remember that the louvre is close on tuesday. so from notre dame, we walked along aves des champs the 'hitler way' and arc de triomphe. the 'hitler way' is when you walked from the Obliseque towards the arc de triomphe instead of the other way ard coz that's what he did. Aves des champs is another shopping street. and for dinner, we went to a restuarant that was near our hotel but that's not the point. the point was that the restuarant was near to moulin rouge. and moulin rouge is situated in the so call 'entertainment area'. where there are the sex shows, sex shops, sleazy bars... u get wat i mean... so if anyone wants to stay along there the next time, ask me and i'll send u the details =)
and on wed, we went to the 'hospital' which Napoleon built for his injured soldiers. the interesting stuff were the flags of the countries that he defeated hanging inside the church and the different cannons that he used and captured. the eiffel tower was next! but guess wat! when we got there, the tower was closed! 'Exceptionally Closed' was the words that was on the electronic display board. everyone was disappointed! even me! coz i would love to go up to the eiffel tower again! so we figured that it was closed because of some repair works or something, so we decided to come again tomolo. so we headed to see the mona lisa instead. the louvre is quite a museum. it's a 'U-shaped' building. so if u happen to be at one end of the building and u want to go to the other end, u gotta walk a freaking long uneconomical distance! anyway, the 2 things that was worthing commenting was the queue and number of people taking pictures of mona lisa... which i also did & the napoleon room. i think the napoleon room is damn impressive! everyone should go see it! it's really damn impressive! he really knew how to live like a king! well, he was one actually... hehe
and on the last day, we went back to the eiffel tower, hoping that it will be open and once again it was 'exceptionally closed' but we saw banners that wrote 'Eiffel Tower on Strike'!!! damn it! wat the fish!!! how could they be on strike! how does exceptionally closed = a strike!!! anyway, we were all disappointed by this event. but over all, it was a good trip.
and i almost forgot to add this in: i almost got pickpocketed... actually, i did get pickpocketed... ermm... i don't know if i did, but let me tell u the story. while getting into the metro (train), a guy came out of nowhere and drop his keys in front of me. he bend down, block my path and as the train doors were closing, another guy also came out of nowhere and tried to get unto the train behind me. so i was wedged between these 2 guys. the guy in front of me was taking a long time to find his keys. actually, it was only bout 5-8 secs but it seemed pretty long coz there was a loud beeping sound becoz the doors of the train couldn't close. and the guy behind me kept pushing forward but he just kept pushing from behind of me instead of moving into space. at this point in time, i still didn't know that there were pickpockets. until i tried to manuveur into space and felt a hand in the back-pocket of my jeans. once i felt that hand, the 2 guys suddenly moved of the train and the doors closed. i looked out and they were scolding each other... as if they didn't know each other and couldn't get on the train becoz one each other but i think that they are just pretending. but anyway, it was an unsuccessful attempt for them and besides, i always put my wallet in my front pocket and tissue paper goes to the back-pocket =) so u be the judge, was i pickpocketed or not?

name the investment bank game...

goldman sachs, merill lynch, ABN, Barclay, Citigroup, HSBC, UBS... i've tried them all and sent my application. all i can do now is to pray and hope that i get called up for interviews and land a job in one of these institutions.
i would really like to get a job as an analyst/ researcher coz it's neither back nor front office. i get to sit down and do my research, and at the same time i will need to meet people to be in touch with the market. and besides, it's a fast moving and changing environment which i think i will like. esp for someone with a short attention span like me.
'so dear God, I pray to you that i'll get a job as an analyst/ researcher... i lay my trust and have faith in you... i shall prepare for my interviews...' well, at least this is how i am going to pray and how it goes...
time to pack for my trip to paris... =)
i still have prague, barcelona, edinburgh that i wanna visit... hehe

selling myself...

basically, more job hunting and scrabble.
i have complied bout 20 something resumes and cover letters. but honestly, i don't really know how to differentiate the two. but the basic idea is to SELL myself to my prospective employer and let them know that i am the right stuff and good stuff!!!
for those who read my blog, my ideal job is to be a researcher or analyst. but if i can't find one soon, i will have to settle for data entry or some sort of odd job.
ok, i gtg, i've spent like 10 hours in front of the laptop looking for jobs...
time to bath and sleep...
=)

i only care bout finding a job!

what day is it now... i don't really care. the only thing that i really care bout now is to find a job! specifically, a job in an investment bank as a analyst or researcher. after all, i am in london right, one of the main financial hubs in the world. there should be many available, just hope that the competition isn't too tough though.
can't really remember much what has been happening for the past few days. but vaguely, it's playing darts, scrabble and having dinners on fri and sat with my sister's friends. and one more thing, i spent 7 hours in front of the computer on sat doing online applications with a few major banks. it was tiring and stressful coz they usually have a lengthy process and u gotta complete a numerical online test too.
i'm getting tired, don't know wat to say nor feel like saying more... goodnight and sweet dreams...
=)

tottenham court tube station... that's the area where i'm staying

i've finally found a place to stay. it's a 3 bedroom flat with a kitchen cum reception room in the middle of central london! it can't get more central than that! haha. the rent is abit steep though.
initially, while waiting for the agent to arrive, the building doesn't look very nice from the outside. but once we got pass the security-code activate glass door, the lobby looks pretty nice. and when we got out of the lift, the corridor leading to the flat makes me feel that i am in a hotel or something. and when we got into the flat, it's a pretty nice place. nicest we've seen so far. and honestly, after 3 days of searching and presented with a centrally located flat and given it's size and condition, i don't mind taking it. and we did.
so now that accomodation is settled, i gotta get a phone line so that with a utility bill, i can open a bank account to deposit my bank draft. and i'll also have to get my national insurance number so that i can work and last but not least, i need to find a job. hope i can find one that pays at least 10 per hour or 20000 p.a.
keep in touch people, take care & God bless u all.
pray for me too!!!
thanks.

my grades... 2 years of hardwork... =)

2003: MICROECONOMICS
Credit, 50.0
2003: HUMAN RESOURCE MGT
Credit, 64.0
2003: CORPORATE FINANCE
Failed, 32.0
2003: PRINCIPLES OF BANKING
Credit, 55.0
2004: BANKING OPS. & RISK ANALYSIS
Credit, 41.0
2004: MGT SCIENCE METHODS
Credit, 72.0
2004: MACROECONOMICS
Credit, 58.0
2004: MGT MATHEMATICS
Credit, 61.0
2004: CORPORATE FINANCE
Credit,60.0

i think i got it!

erm... i think i got my second upper. i'm not sure of it coz of the way the grading and awarding of classes is done.
overall, i think i did pretty well except for macroeconomics. i thought i would have 'killed' the paper but i only got a 58. quite disappointed with that. it's such a waste.
other than that, i've really got no other complains. i got 41 for banking operations and risk analysis, it's a pretty low score but it's ok coz i didn't expect to do too well for either.
i just hope that i can scrap it thru to my second upper... and of course, i gotta praise God for the results. i can say that i've never been so discipline and pushed myself so hard to study for an exam. and the first time is always the toughest... and i have to make life tough for myself coz while i was younger, i didn't study hard! haha
wish the rest of my friends all the best!
no prize for guessing what am i going to do today... house hunting!!!

i wish and hope for a second upper honours!

siao liao lar! results will be out tomolo!
2pm, singapore time, and i think that's bout 6am or 7am over here. which is great! i can wake up at ard 9am, avoid the mad rush to check the results when it's release.
but someone told me that becoz i was in my final and 3rd year last year, my 'academic profile' is not available online at the SIM website! bloody dumb ass! then how am i suppose to check my results! some people at the management/planning level just can't think and plan ahead/properly. they are so narrow minded.
anyway, i didn't do much house hunting today. we only went to see 2 houses, they were better than the previous ones. the first house was pretty ok, except that the single rooms were pretty small. the second house was quite spacious, except that it was located on the ground floor... if only it was on a second or third level, it would be almost perfect!
in case u don't know wat am i talking bout, i am looking for a 3 bedroom flat/house with a reception area. i'll be sharing a room with my sister's friend. and my sister and my roommate's friend will be taking a single room each.
wish me better prospect tomolo. =)
dinner time. seeya.