ICE.COLD.COFFEE

Now that the whole v day thing is almost over, I get to have part of my life back. Although part of it is still entwined in the follow up plan to salvage the current situation. Haiz...

14th Feburary, Tuesday, Still V day

Immediately went home to bathe. I still had to go out later.

Because Mun Bbun (my horti senior) wanted me to do him a favour.

He's in NS now but he wants to give flowers to his girlfriend so he asked me to help. She stays in Tampines and I was supposed to pass her a bouquet of 3 roses and some chocoates (the cherry chocolates I bought from Marks and Spencers) to her.

Luckily, my Dad agreed to drive me there. I had no idea how to go there and was terribly tired from not sleeping the previous night.

She's quite pretty. Haha... Nice and friendly too!

After that, my Dad drived me home. I was eating my dinner (my Mum cooked potatoes, my favourite!) when I feel asleep!

I only realised the next morning when I woke up, not in my pyjamas. I never fall asleep without my knowing. Usually when I feel tired, I'll "allow" to sleep. Like I'll take off my spectacles and lie down properly, even if it's just in front of the tv. But this time, I fell asleep just like that!

The next day, my Mum told me that I didn't even finish eating my dinner and was holding the bowl when I slept. Even when she took the bowl away, my hand was still in the shape of holding the bowl! And my Dad took picture of me sleeping before and after the bowl was taken away. I looked terribly tired la!

15th Feburary, Wednesday

Didn't go to school cos I was so tired and didn't do any homework so I might as well stay at home to finish it.

But I went to school after lessons ended for horti meeting with Mrs Chuah, Melissa and Jia Yan. We had to decide how to settle the problem.

On the way, I saw some of my classmates. Chen Yue, Livia and Li Yue. And I went to borrow lecture notes from Sheryl. They were all very concerned that I didn't go to school that day.

Apparently, Mrs Chuah (she's also my maths tutor) had found out that I didn't go to school during tutorial and told the class what happened. From what I heard from Sheryl, Mrs Chuah said that I didn't sleep at all throughout and stuff. Worked very hard.

I was quite surprised that she told the class actually. But luckily she did, so they all know what I went through. Then they know that horti actually worked hard to try to pack the flowers correctly. So if any of their friends complain about the orders, hopefully they can help spread the word the we already tried our best.

Over the 2 hours and 30 minutes meeting, we decided that we would set up a refund booth to give out refunds. And make announcement during assembly to tell people about the booth.

At first, me and Melissa thought that we should go up on stage to make a formal apology. So that it would be sincere. But me and Melissa were definitely not the ones who were going to do it. Because we were too emotional. We would probably cry on stage! Then when we couldn't find any one else to do it, we decided that we would just get the SC to make announcement about the booth.

Finally when the meeting ended, I went for inter-house bowling competition.

Had loads of fun! My team had Li Yue, Kimberly and Chifang. Our team name? Strike! Haha...

My first ball during the practice session got a strike! Too bad that it was only the practice round.

I love the company of such great friends!

The guys team in the next lane was super pro!! All hitting scores of 100 and above. Ruxin was in that team. But the thing is, we had to cross lanes so we had to play faster and they had to slow down so that the game would be properly spread out. Dominicus (my ex-Angel) was in bowling and he was in the next lane. But he wasn't playing cos he would be playing tomorrow.

In the end, my scores were 93, 70 and 90. There was some problem with the lane so actually, I got some "free" points for the first game. It's quite high. Usually my score ranges around 60 to 70.

And Li Yue was not on form too, Usually she plays up to 150 but today, her scores were lower than mine.

And, I became Kim's "Mum" today! She started calling me Mummy because she said I'm like a mother, always take care of other people. Quite true, cos I can be quite bossy at times. Haha...

I had so much fun! First time I smiled so happily since the whole venture started!

My Dad bought a small heart shaped cake. It was cheaper since V day already passed.

When I went home and showered, that's when the trouble started.

F (I'm not being rude. Her name really starts with F!) from TJ called me and "I think you owe us an apology."

...

What?!

I got a shock when I heard cos it's total nonsense. I don't owe you an apology you ****! (actually i don't know what is ****. Just felt like doing that.) I was so angry. But I didn't scold her though. It's just not my nature. I know she must be feeling terrible. We all at VJ also do. So why does she have the right to talk to me like that?

The TJ people will be giving out flowers on thursday to substitute. And she's unhappy that we at VJ decided to give refunds to those who didn't receive the flowers. We're not wrong to choose to give refunds. That's what we think is the best solution. But they think that giving out flowers would be better.

So what? That doesn't mean that we're wrong or anything. We just have different views on what it the best solution to salvage this venture.

After all, flowers don't have that much meaning after V day. And you think that people don't know flowers are so much cheaper after V day meh? Then you still charge them V day prices but buy cheap flowers. You think people are stupid ar?!

It's just that we have differing views. I can understand if some people want their flowers. But we can choose to deal with our customers what we feel is right for them. They can always get their money back and do something else with it.

Fuck her. I was so angry and didn't know what to do. I admit that I'm not a good negotiator. So when she suggested re-delivering the flowers to VJ another day, I said I'll call Mrs Chuah and discuss with her first. Made me seem like such a loser that I couldn't make a decision on the spot.

In the end, we decided that we would deliver some flowers to VJ the next week. After all, there was some mix up on our part and we missed out a few orders. So it was only right that we deliver those flowers that we mixed up.

And since we decided to give refunds to our customers, the undelivered flowers from VJ to TJ (which is like almost everything) will not be delivered. Damn it. We should have just ordered the flowers and make them give out. After all, we don't have to do any work since they are the ones distributing the flowers, then we can still earn profits from the successful deliveries. Haiz. A terrible night.

I was thinking that we should be nice to one another. After all, it was none of our faults, and we may be able to work again next time. Why make the relationship so hostile? But since that's the way they want it, fine! I won't bother being nice too.

Stupid TJ people. Spoilt my day.

When I was doing my homework, I received 2 very heart warming smses...

Joanne at 10.53pm "Hey Char! take care of your health! miss u at school..:) hee! good job on e flowers! :) my friends very v happy..all thanks 2 u guys..jia you..hope to cu soon!"

Sheryl at 10.55pm "Hey, think that you will still be studying and finishin up all your work.. Just wanna drop by to cheer you on, jia you! Really feel that you are a very very responsible girl and friend.. Although i cant help you in your studies, but i will keep you in prayer.. All the best for your common tests, i am extremely sure you can do well! And don't reply.. Do your work!"

16th Feburary, Thursday

I met Mrs Chuah in the morning to discuss some stuff before we set up the refund booth today. There was house meeting because the of the SC election. I really didn't want to miss that. I wanted to see the nominees so I could vote. But I really had no choice! Haiz... The sacrifices I make...

In the end, I only managed to see the last 2 or 3 nominees.

Also, there was econs S today. And the interesting teacher taught us today. His name is Mr John Cook, I think.

Halfway during the lecture, there was a sudden blackout. He was all cool about it and made some lame jokes.

Then all of a sudden, the lights came on again. And he said "I was expecting to see all of you waving your hands in the air..."

"...because many hands make light work!"

Haha... Made us all laugh like mad! I like the way he makes unintentional lame jokes. Haha... That's why all of us love his lecture.

One problem though. He's really long-winded! Lecture always end late. Especially today! It was supposed to end at 4.50pm. But when it was 5.40, he was still going on and on. My Dad called me during lecture. I rejected it. But I know that he was planning to drive me home because he always calls around that time if he wants to give me a lift. I messaged him that lecture was going to end soon.

But it didn't! Then finally, I raised my hand and said "Sir, it's getting late. I need to go."

Then he said "ok. End of lecture." And there it was, everyone could go home there and then.

I think everyone should thank me. If not, God knows when he would let us off!

As I expected, my Dad called to give me a lift home. And he said that my Mum didn't feel like cooking dinner so we would go out for dinner.

When I reached home, I messaged Kim to say bye cos I left in a hurry just now and didn't get to talk to her.

She said bye too and said that I did a good job for the flower sale and that she thinks I'm a good leader. I think she could tell that I was still stressed up about everything. I know that too cos Joanne has been asking me that in class. She says I look stressed. Haha... I'm really less smiley these few days.

Anyway, for the dinner, we decided to have buffet at a place near SMU. It's $32 per person. Super expensive! But the food was wonderful! Just wonderful!

There was sushi, chinese dim sum, soup, more japanese food, salad and deserts.

The sushi was nice! But I didn't want to eat too much of it because I wanted to try everything. Don't want to fill my stomach with too much rice. Haha...

The siew mai was so so nice! The best I ever tasted!!! Loved it! Whahaha...

There was spaghetti and pasta too! So many different shapes and there were 3 types of sauces to choose from.

After eating loads of food, we started on the deserts and salad.

There was this Valentine's Day salad. Nothing really special about it though. Just that the chef would prepare it nicely for you instead of you having to take the different vegetables yourself.

I love eating vegetables. Haha... My mum too! We ate loads of vegetables! Good for the digestive system. Haha...

Then it was desert time! All the deserts and cakes were in very small portions. It was good because then we could try one of everything without eating too many calories.

There was marble cake, brownie, peach something, mango pudding, durian pudding (just heavenly!!!), jellies and loads more! My favourite part of any buffet is the deserts. How great it would be if there were a desert buffet. Whahaha...

17th Feburary, Friday

It's our second day of refunds. We were planning to let this be the last day of registering for refunds. Then we would double check with the orders to make sure no one claimed the money wrongly. So sian. Cos I had to sit at the booth during most of my breaks.

We had a horti meeting today. I thought that we would be able to have a break after v day. But because of everything that happened, we had no choice. We had the post mortem for the flower sales. Like always, we had to record what we did right and what we did wrong for the venture. And obviously, there were a lot more wrongs and rights.

I think it's because that I'm in charge that I sorta feel the things said were arrowed to me. Maybe I'm too sensitive.

Mrs Chuah said there was a lack of a leader on the day of packing the flowers. Like no one was standing up to take charge.

But excuse me! I delegated work. I asked Wen Zhe and Xu Duo to pack the flowers into plastic bags. I asked some of them to wrap the flowers with cotton wool and aluminium foil, and asked some of them to collect the flowers. I think I already did what I could do, since this is also my first time. But I admit that I'm not a natural leader so maybe some of the way I did things, others could have done better.

Then again, I wasn't the only leader. Melissa and Jia Yan were also in charge. So Mrs Chuah might not be directing that comment at me.

Also, the idea of typing the orders into the excel format was also criticised. Because some people may have typed wrongly and it took a lot of time. But that was my idea, so I stood up for it. Because seriously, there wasn't any better way to do it. We had to label the flowers and collate the orders. It was already the best way.

I told them that and in the end, Mrs Chuah concluded that we shouldn't have accepted too many orders. It was really too much for us to handle. For that, I agree. Because we weren't expecting so many orders in the first place.

Wen Zhe said there wasn't really a plan on what we were going to do. Like we only decided on the venture and dived straight into it. There wasn't a proper time table nor a list of what to do. We only decided on that as we went along. That, I agree too. And I'll keep that in mind because it's really important if I ever have to be involved in such a big project again.

Yup, so note to self: make sure there's a proper plan on what to do before starting any project!

18th Feburary, Saturday

As usual, I went to SMU for lesson today.

We had a test!

And... ... I didn't study for it! At all!

I completely forgot!

The MCQ was ok, but the essay part, I'm sure I'll die. There were 2 true or false questions and I gave the wrong answer for one.

I seriously hope I won't do too badly for this course. If not, I won't be able to get exemption for the module in university. Then I would have wasted 13 saturday mornings!

19th Feburary, Sunday

Went to a undergrad program and scholarship talk by NTU at hotel intercontinental, Bugis. 10am to 5pm.

It was really useful. Gave me insights on what you study in the various courses. And for the business course, there is this specialisation in hospitality and tourism. I so wanna take this course! Haha...

Went with Si Hui, Joanne and Hanjie! So fun! Whahaha...

20th Feburary, Monday

It was another day of refunds. I had to meet Mrs Chuah in the morning to settle some stuff before the booth was set up. And it was so sad because I missed the CT walkabout.

In case you don't know, CT walkabout is when the student council nominees go from class to class to ask people to vote for them and answer questions. Usually they'll have to do stupid stuff that's asked of them. If not they'll be seen as un-enthu. It's a lot of fun! I went in just in time to see only the last 2 nominees. Sad la!

Also went swimming today. Fisrt time I'm swimming in 2 and a half week. Felt so good to swim again. We went to Mandarin Gardens (the condo beside VJ) and had a short training.

21st Feburary, Tuesday

This is the second day of CT walkabout. It was really fun and my class was very funny. We were more of teasing the nominees than bullying them (I know some classes are really mean). Zi Rui kept asking funny qusetions. Haha...

My junior class also had a nominee. He's quite good. I think he'll get in!

That's all for the stuff after V day. Actually this post is just a summary of everything that happened but since I had to time no blog about it on the actual day itself, I just combined it into one big post. Don't mind my ramblings.