Friday, January 29, 2010

Okay this third week has been a hell of a ride. Suddenly things just picked up insane speed over the weekend and everyone's on overdrive. Guess I should have seen it coming when I opened up my email inbox on a late Monday morning, only to realise that I've been summoned to a meeting at 9am on Monday morning the Sunday before. I didn't know cos I didn't check my email. fml.

After said meeting ended (and I apologised profusely for my tardiness), work just came flooding in and hasn't stopped for 5 days. In fact, I finally cleared the last stuff just this Friday evening. But it has been really good, really enriching, very interesting stuff, got to see the thinking behind the big plans, learning what's important, rationales for doing certain things etc, learning how the whole cog of this investment machine works. And today, I finally got to look at the FM files. omg. If we ever thought that Corp Reporting and the forecasting of financial statements was killer (even though its a mere 3 excel worksheets, and 3 segments of P/L, Balance sheet and cashflows), wait till you see the 7-10 worksheets that appear in an FM. And the reams of data that appear. Good gawd.

I actually can't wait to get back to work on Monday, so I can figure this FM thing out and get started on the investment education. And I better brush up on my knowledge of bonds. A few good things about work so far:

1. Minimalist, flexible Big boss who doesn't micro-manage you. Lunch whenever you want, come in whenever you want. Just get your work done. I like that style. Substance over form.

2. Immediate boss who is an ex-investment banker, who even though very busy, still has time to teach/assign me stuff to do. Colleagues who don't look down on interns, is a very good thing.

3. Get to join in for some meetings, see how things work.

4. Temporary office overlooks the Singapore Flyer, ECP and great sea panorama. Nice view babeee! I have shifted back to my lowly cubicle -_-. Still! I got myself a nice big flatscreen monitor (I think 19"), so that I can look at large excel files without squinting my eyeballs out.

5. 2 lunch treats in 3 weeks by colleagues. Yay! But tonight I missed my first, deal-closing celebration dinner because of a split-second wrong choice that I made. FML. No free drinks and food and networking opportunities for me, and I didn't get to spend time with the sister either cos she's not home (when I gave up the former to be more 'family-oriented').

6. I do a different thing everyday. So much so I don't really know how to phrase whatever I do in my resume. I just feel like putting 3 words: bao ka liao. Cos seriously, I bao ka liao, whatever all my many bosses want me to do (which is everybody else since I'm lowest on the foodchain here), I go do.

7. The commute is pissing me off less. Not taking mrt is doing wonders for my stress levels. Public transport rage has been kept at bay. I just sleep on the bus for an hour. It's not ideal, but it's tolerable. Still better than fighting with the other harassed people on the mrt.

8. All the colleagues are above their mid-thirties, which equates to a wealth of experience, which equates to great learning opportunities from everyone. Which also equates to a network of contacts if I impress and do well enough in this internship. Just the other day, my accountant colleague was telling me important stuff about work life. And I also found out she's a pro at excel macros, which, I need to learn. Cos every damn interviewer ask about your abilities with macros whenever I say I am good at excel (only the formulas, not the macros. Yet)

8. My career path... feels like it's going somewhere. I hope the good stuff keeps up, and I like whatever's in store for me. Just too bad the ex-investment banker boss is leaving soon, I hope the replacement continues to teach me stuff.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Work has started. Things are starting sloowwww. But at least its starting, and my learning curve is pretty comfortable. A little too comfortable, I wish things could speed up abit. But everyone's too busy to teach me sometimes. Nevertheless, I do a new thing almost everyday. And I actually move quite abit in this supposedly desk job, which is good for my health, of cos. Heh. I'm just waiting right now to be able to learn FM. Cos if its what I think it is, then I think it'll be actually quite fun. But whatever it is, the stuff I'm seeing now is pretty damn interesting. And I've had more than one colleague swearing me into confidentiality about work matters lol. But I'm glad to be learning all this content, I could possibly foresee myself in this line in the future.

(just wished things were a little faster)

It's been two weeks exactly. Life has settled into a routine pretty quickly. My body clock has already adjusted, I feel sleepy at 1030pm. And I awake real early in the morning. The brain is skewing towards career now. I've got important responsibilities and paths to plan. Important decisions to make. Sometimes I worry that I'm not following in the footsteps of the crowd. No big name bank on my resume, no big name whatever on my resume. Feels a little precarious. No bank experience. That's the most worrisome part I guess. Then again, I don't see myself headed there. So where am I going?

Where the money is?

There's good money to be made anywhere really, as long as you're darn good at whatever you do. There's always a niche you can carve for yourself. I hope as the weeks turn into months, I'll have my mind broadened further. And maybe I'll find some answers for myself. Although from observation of the colleagues, the efforts required seem very daunting. Ah wells, let's take things as they go I guess. Things will change, life will always change. My goals will change. But I'm thankful at least, some part of my life has a chance to go somewhere.

School feels far away and useless right now. My last semester will be a case of 'reclining in the backseat', with the easiest profs of cos, because I am in serious danger of losing my summa. Just .02 hanging above the balance. I can't get anything less than As next semester I think. Cannot afford another B+. Don't want to work so hard all these years just to falter a little in the last year, and lose the 1st class. That will totally kill me, temporarily. But it will definitely stab if it were to come to that.

I hope 2010 is a good year. So far it has been, I hope life continues like this.



Amaze me World, Surprise me Life.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Okay I ususally write best when depressed. And I haven't been updating recently too, cos it seems pretty pointless. And mostly I don't have the time lately. There's so many events going on, which is a good thing in its ownself of cos, but it also leaves me less time to 'process'. Hmmm.

Had a great NYE. Had an even better first weekend of the new year. I feel like I've been slapped senseless many times on the cheeks, and I'm only starting to feel the blood rushing red and pink to the surface telling me, dear girl, you're allliiivvveeee!!! Yeah, I'm alive. Feel gawd-damned alive like never before. Not in a long long time.

Makes you wonder how you could've ever doubted yourself and doubted Life in the first place. Makes the 'wise words' of others sound so damnably cliched because it's so damnably true. And realise that even after all this is said and done, God's still joking around with you. Giving you a taste of what can't be. But hell, thanks for letting me know I am still alive. Even though life seems to call halfway across the world, and I'm once more dragged into my American Dream.

I could run and run through the park and plough through winds and stare at the weeping sky and not feel that fire leave. I could run in vain trying to run it off and shake it out but no I don't want to stop or try. I could even have work hang over me like a guillotine and time running out of for sand me, but I'm still walking through yesterdays and nights. Maybe it was less than 24 hours. I'm sure it was. I suppose then it makes every moment that more precious. Most of all, I feel honoured.

I know, as we walk away, that sometimes fate deals you an interesting hand. And you'd be damned if you didn't try to play it. Even if only for one moment.


Thank you for passing through, for sharing this ride. Cos I won't ever forget.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

I wish you didn't had to go back to America so soon.