Back to "school"?

School, a word which I could never stop using even though I've left years ago and enrolled into a university. Somehow or rather, school sounds more familiar to me than university and I just don't know why. Is it because I have spent eleven years in elementary and high school thus, it has become a "habit" of mine to say this word? Nah, it doesn't matter. What it matters most is, the coming week marks the beginning of my new semester, a.k.a. my LAST semester (if everything goes well)! These were the few things I've done before going back to "school".

Well, I had been working for the past three weeks, office job, basically the so-called "HR Personnel". Ya, one of my tasks was to hire a full time assistant project manager and a contract-base construction intern. Though I've always knew that advertising on newspapers costs a lot, I didn't know that it could cost THAT much. Wait, by advertising here, I meant, commercial advertisements, not recruitment advertisements. The cost of advertising is the sum of (the cost of size),  (target audience, eg: northern/southern Malaysia, east/west of Malaysia and Centro Malaysia), (the number of days), which in most cases, costs around RM10k. As for job advertisements, a mere (5cm x 6.3cm), aiming, say, Centro Malaysia, cost RM900+ for one month. This, this is really not worthy as contrast to JobStreet. 

In Jobstreet, with around RM500, you get to post a job advertisement for one month. If you received less than 30 job applications within the period, you are entitled to post for another one month (free). Lately, there is this promotion in conjunction with the Independence Day, whereby, with RM500, you get to post TWO job advertisements. I find this more worthy because, internet has no boundaries. When you post the ads, everyone from any region of the country can view it. Not to mention, applicants have the choice to filter their search for jobs as well. Let's say, if someone in Penang wishes to work in KL, he/she could straight search for jobs in KL area. As contrast to newspaper, if you post an ad targeted for Centro area, people in Penang will not be able to see it. Besides, using Jobstreet could really save up a lot of time because, everything could be filtered via advanced search!

*I know, some of you might think that, what I wrote here about job advertising is not much of a big deal. But at least I did something during my semester break instead of watching drama, right? (Wait, I did watch a drama, BUT, it was only a "drama", instead of "dramas", which I usually did.. Haha..) Anyway, filtering the applications could be a tedious thing to do when the gist of being an effective HR is "hiring the right people for the right positions".

On Thursday, I went back to INTI for enrollment. Though I've enrolled way before my previous semester ended, we were not given the time table and thus, I had to go back to get myself the latest time table and academic calender (so that I could plan my outings with friends? lol). I'm taking five subjects this semester, namely, International Economics, Global Issues in International Business, Cross-cultural Management, International Management and Strategic Management. I have a feeling that I would have hard time excelling these subjects as they are all theory based. Not that I have difficulties in explaining the theories and all, it's just that I find calculation questions easier to score. A few simple steps with the formulas memorized, you could easily get full marks (with zero negligence, of course). In calculation, it is possible to score 100%, but in essay questions, there is no perfect answer to yield you perfect scores. I guess I'll be spending most of my time in the library again. What a lifeless life I have. Hmmph~

On Friday, I erm, ya, I permed my hair. I've always wanted to curl my hair but was kinda afraid of the unsatisfying result. Whenever I watched some dramas and find how mature or even stylish, the main actresses look like with their hair curled, I wish to make mine like theirs. But, not every hairstylist could understand the preferences of their customers and thus, I've always scared to take the risk. Seeing that I'm finishing my studies soon, I was thinking, perhaps with a little curl towards the end of my hair, I would look a bit more mature?

I have always wanted the curl like hers.
(Ariel Lin, in "In Time With You")

Before vs After. I thought it would look shorter after you curled it.
But it doesn't seem just quite eh?

Wow, such a HUGE difference right?

Well, of course it looks nice after the hairstylist styled it.
I wonder how would it be like after say, 1 month? lol
P/S I'm a lazy person. Its highly unlikely I would style it each time
after I washed my hair. Let's see how it turns out. Haha

On Saturday, I attended a talk organized by the Toastmaster Club. It was kind of a workshop regarding the techniques to make effective evaluation and how to successfully deliver a humorous speech. We (with my friend, ZY) had nasi lemak (Note: a kind of Malay traditional food) as our lunch and we managed to make some new friends. When I saw ZY exchanged her name card (ya, she has started working) with our new friends, I kinda envious of her and wish I had my very own name card too. Haha. Anyway, among four new friends I made, three of them are from an international school in Wangsa Maju, while one of them is actually from INTI-Subang, currently pursuing a degree in Finance, and he is a former Sam Tet student. Among the three KL people, two of them are studying UK diploma programme, while one of them is currently working as a mortgage officer. Erm, actually, I'm not sure if they are considered as my new "friends", or should I just use the word "acquaintances" since we barely know each other (and, we haven't add each other on FB yet, too). Ha... Hmm, if I were to be less shy, I would have taken photos with them. Aiks...

Stephen really made us laughed like hell wey~~

I must say, I enjoyed the last session the MOST! haha

After the workshop, we went to have some light food at Shakespeare (boulangerie & patisserie). She is one of my seniors who is still in touch with me (though not on a day-to-day basis, at least its on a more frequent basis as contrast to some other seniors of mine). We ordered ourselves coffees and desserts and started talking about work and life. She has a major in HR but she is now working as a sales agent in banking industry. She is still exploring her direction of life, as in, which field does she has her passion for. Well, I guess, its quite normal for people at our age to start contemplating on our very own future career. Just as what I said before, just because everyone else is doing some particular thing, doesn't mean that we have to follow them. We should pave our own path instead. And, that's what I've been doing all these while, when I look into the mirror, I ask my reflection, "What do you wanna be? Who do you wanna be? And, how you gonna achieve that?" The conducive environment, with the aroma of freshly baked bread and cookies, was the reason why we lost track of time (she needed to rush back for her friend's farewell). With that, we left the restaurant with a heavy heart.

Top left: Americano; Top right: Tiramisu;
Bottom left: Saku-sakuMix Fruit; Bottom right: Cappuccino

Today was the day I intended to go back to my "beloved" hostel room (ya, not the class room.. lol). But, after being at home for three weeks, the thought of heading back to school has made me longed for coming back home again, when the semester has not even started! So, I wandered around my living room, walked back and forth between my bedroom and study room, pretending to be busily engaged in packing my luggage and getting ready to go back. But, I think my pretense was pretty obvious that made my dad interceded and said, "Apparently, I don't think I could be oblivious on your reluctance to leave TODAY." Haha. My dad knows me so well eh? So, I made up my mind to postpone it to Monday. Haha.

Well, as the title suggests, "Back to school?", you wanna know what my honest answer would be? I'm mentally ready to go back (ya, already mentally prepared to face the reality). Physically, however, I'm not. Erm, I'm not sure if you understood me. I mean, the whispers in my head have been telling me, "its time", "its time", "its your last semester", "last fight" etc. BUT, my body, can't seem to sync with my brain signals. A place called HOME would always have this effect on most, if not everyone, of us, I reckon. As my dad rushed me to bed, I'm still here writing my blog, despite of the fact that, I HAVEN'T even started packing my luggage! Ahem, I think I should really get going. Brand new day tomorrow, brand new semester, brand new challenges. Wait, when I come to think of having a brand new hair style, it appears to me that it definitely suits the current me, best! Hehe..

"Till next post, cheers :)