Bed of lemons

The other day I was just in class discussing about suicide rate among teenagers with my course mates and tutor. We came up with a conclusion. Why kids nowadays think suicide for the slightest reason can solve every problem? The answer? They're too pampered and spoil. Their parents always give in to them since they were young, they never got "NO" for an answer so they think everything will go their way. When they're in society, it doesn't work that way. When things didn't go their way, they'll opt for suicide. That's what the parent of one of the suicide victim said.
Suicide is something that I can confidently say i don't have to worry about. For one thing, I got my family and religion to stop me from doing anything harsh. Second, I think i can rationalize better before thinking about anything rash. Since young, I've been receiving "No" till now. I'm pampered yes but not spoilt.
Now, why am I talking about lemons in the title? Have you ever heard: When life gives you lemon, make lemonade out of it? It's a cliche phrase I know. So yea, I'm saying life always has it's ups and downs. You aren't alive if you don't. I remember a lot about those sad memories. Sometime i think, God is being unfair- always throwing lemons at me. Sometimes I make lemonade from it (to be optimistic and take it easy, make it an advantage), throw it (ignore), squash it (conquer), rub it in my eyes ( be pessimistic and be sad) and i even kept it (hold grudges). Through these bad experience I've learn to be strong and patient. Years and years of mental abuse from the society and trying to live up to their expectation made me act differently from who i really am. I'm not in the middle of an identity crisis but since last night, I've been thinking about who i really am and for what reason I'm working so hard to please others? I must have done something wrong to be treated like this.
I thought I will never break because of the years of lemons. I thought my heart was made of steel- armoured by years and years of lemons. But even the strongest and impenetrable armour can be pierced through with a small and sharp arrow.
Haven't I had enough of lemons? Is it ever going to stop? When will it be honey?
One day I'll write a memoir about my closet full of lemons...

Bad customer service: Endure or not?

I have been through such a tiring day last night. I didn't sleep enough for 2 nights before (I think 3 hours in total, the rest i was just drifting back and forth) so it's surprising that I could keep my eyes open and not be cranky. Here's the deal, I've been met with very unpleasant situations within a day.
First, I went to the train station and asked them about "how frequent was the trip the train makes" in English. I hadn't spoke my national language in 3 years since i started my college, so being so rusty in it I used English, since it's suppose to be the "second" language in the country. The staff there looked at me with a very confused expression, rolled the word "frequent" with his tongue and turned to an older staff and asked "What's frequent?". I almost laughed. For the next couple of minute, the older staff took charge of answering my question. Okay, this i don't mind.
Second case, I wanted to buy tickets for the train and it was during peak hours so the whole place was roaring with noise. I couldn't hear the staff say 4.80 for the ticket so I kept asking him(like 3 times) until he shouted(or roared-more like it) 4.80 in a very rude manner. I was annoyed seriously, I know it's tiring cuz it's peak hour and there are many customers in line and he's tired too but really, is that necessary? Being the calm and patient person I usually am, I let it go.

The third case was the worse, I was prepared to get off the train at my station. When it stopped I saw everyone getting off but the door to my coach isn't open. I thought it will in a few seconds but then I felt the train move. That was when i started to panic and ran for the door to the next coach. By that time it was too late and i was stuck in the train till it reached the final station. There was a boy also who was stuck with me and my friends in that train. He went to tell the conductor and he told us that we can get off at the next station but the next train will be at 3am (it was 9am). I called some acquaintance who knows the area well and they told me not to get off cuz it's a dangerous place during the night. I listened and stayed. When we reach the final stop, the boy insisted on complaining to the train management to pay for our trip back to where we were suppose to get of. (I seriously wanted to just go home cuz i have test the next day & i'm too damn tired and let this go) But he's persistent and hee wanted go go back with us. So i had no choice then.
After a few attempts of negotiating with the top dog, one of the woman employee came out and started talking very rude to us, saying that it was technical problem so we can't blame then and expect them to pay AND we should have gotten off at the next stop cuz they'll definitely find a way to bring us back. I let the boy did all the talking since it wasn't necessary for me. Since she was so rude, the boy lost his temper and shouted back at her to talk politely. Her boyfriend (who i suspect was a security guard there-he wasn't wearing uniform tho) was nearby and he heard AND you know what comes next. Of course the need to feel defensive was there (the girlfriend was then playing the nice girl, trying to pull him away) and the boy and that man shouted at each other till they finally looked like they were going to punch each other THEN i stepped in and explained why we didn't want to get off the next station, adding that we were unfamiliar to the place. They calmed down and the girl agreed to talk to her boss again. It took another hour to sort this matter and when she finally came out looking teary, she told us the management agreed to pay 3/4 of the cost to get back with a cab. (I told her on the way that they have two options, pay 180 or 48 since i got two ways of getting back- they chose the cheaper one of course). When they were talking to the cab driver, the woman turned to us and apologized for losing her cool and she bla bla bla (I feel kinda sympathetic for her cuz it really wasn't her fault and the management was scolding her and the boy was pressuring her and studying organisation psychology made me more understanding of her position) Her boyfriend was standing somewhere close like a hawk to be ready to jump into a fight when he was needed. But of course he wasn't needed, we were just all tired and we got no willpower to turn this into a bloodshed. The bloody journey to the final station took us 2 bloody hours so of course i just want to crawl back home and take a nice warm shower and get to bed.
In the end i got home 30 minutes before midnight and I just couldn't care less about studying for my test and went to bed, wet hair and all. The 2 sleepless night and tiredness of the day finally caught up with me.


So yeah, that was my experience with bad customer services in a day. I heard from some friends that the train company I was using has really bad customer service since a long long time ago. For the last case, we might need to travel back using our own money which was totally unnecessary if we were to get off at the right station and living with a scarce student fund make it impossible for me. I am really patient when dealing with these situation but there are times when i get annoyed too. If someone were to be in my position, would they have endured this kinda treatment? I know what some of my friends would do and it's not going to be pretty, that staff's pretty face might get ripped off. And i also know some of people would just let go. But that's unfair isn't it? It wasn't our fault. If we don't do anything about it, this would happen all over again and they wouldn't feel any remorse. So to endure or not? Yesterday I endured two times but the last we didn't. At times there are need to endure and there are times we can NOT endure, we just need to evaluate the situation ourselves. Is there any need?
 I hope i won't have to face this kinda situation ever again, I'm too tired to go through it all over again.

The Lies of Books and Novel Reviews

When checking out a book, we don't only read the synopsis right? Those comments and reviews from other sources are usually written on the cover, so you'll read it too right? WRONG! Never read the comments or quote!
Okay, I don't mean all. It's just something I discovered recently when i buy books. The comments they give are usually positive one's no doubt, so it tends to cloud reality. I bought books who says: Thrilling, hilarious, gorgeous, whimsy bla bla bla~~ you get what i meant. But actually it's nothing like that. I have a few books that promised a good read and it end up to be a huge disappointment. I actually fell asleep when reading one of it, I NEVER get sleepy when reading novels. NEVA!!!
You should know that these are one sided comments. We have different views and interest so it might sound appealing to others but not for me. It's like some people saying olives are delicious and to some it's just gross. Yep, like that. So its not good to trust on the comment entirely. It'll be best if you can open the book and check out the content itself. Read a page or two and decide if you really like the writing style. if the first page you read bores you out then the book is not for you.
I've recently read "A discovery of witches" by Deborah Harkness. While i do admire the fact that the book is packed with 'gorgeous historical detail' i find the comment that it has humor a total lie. I don't find anything funny inside. It took me nearly 2 weeks to read it till the end (i still haven't finish btw). I usually finish within 3 days max if the book is interesting enough. Not that I'm saying this book isn't interesting. It's full of alchemy and history details. I admire Deborah for having such a vast knowledge in history, alchemy and wine (She runs a wine blog btw) OR she finds the info in the internet, it must have took her quite sometime to surf the net for information (I know how that feels cuz i do that too). While the comments from Entertainment weekly said the heroine is "gutsy and brainy", i think she's equally stupid and stubborn too. I have learn to dislike Diana Bishop at some point. It also promises "Huge fun" which i don't find anything and it feels incredibly boring. I just don't get the humor of it. I guess fan of Sci-fi and suspense books should get it. Last i heard, it might get made into a movie. Maybe it's just rumors. Meh~ i wont watch if it's made into a movie. Since the book was boring to me, i don't wanna sleep through it in the cinema's too.
This book isn't my type of book at all. I guess i really should just stick to Nicholas Sparks, Meg Cabot and other Chick Lit.  I was just lured to buy it by the promising comments and discount price. (sigh) 
Note to self: Pick your personal favorites and stick to it. 

Korean entertainment agency: The good and the bad

I'm sure for those Kpop fans out there, you'll know a lot about the Korean talent agency. E.g: JYP, SM, Cube, YG etc .There's been a lot of controversies about how they abuse their celebs physically and even mentally. The fatigue of touring, concerts, practices, promotion etc. ,  has taken a huge chunk of their time. But anyway, I't not here to talk about that. I'm more interested with their own personal style. It's kinda easy to recognize if you're a particular fan of an agency. How to I put this, hmm... it's like a speciality, uniqueness that sets them apart of each other but they have a common field- music. I have a few particular one's i'd like to point out.

NOW, SM company is a rather vain one i think. Now, note this, I'm so not a fan of SM agency so's their celebs but i do listen to their songs. The one's that are worth listening to. So it's not all hate, so chill. Anyway, SM they recruit their celebs based on looks. Notice this, none of them looked bad in front of the camera. Make up is a huge factor, that can't be helped cuz everyone needs it. I'm talking about plastic surgery. There are so many tales and i mean REALLY so many cases that I've heard. Their talents are trained from young then plastic surgery fixes the imperfections. With so many effort being done to make them look nice, of course they manage to be one of the most well known rich companies. Abuse aside, since it's the pay of being perfect, I noticed one flaw in their system. The songs!! Oh gosh, let me tell you, their songs is so alike at some times. It's like they used the same sentence and melody in a lot of different songs sang by different group. E.g: Super Juniors songs, Shinee, Girls Generation, Exo-k and TVXQ. Please do compare it and you'll really notice it sounds alike. Of course those hard core fans just refuses to admit but well, it's true. That's why, I get sick of their song quite fast too. It's just really repetitive at the same time. I have a phobia to listening to Gee at some point, my friends and sister used it as a way to torment me. So yeah, I'm still sick of it.

NEXT, YG. Now my friend is a HUGE fan of this agency. She likes almost every of the group they debut. You just gotta admire their authenticity. I mean, the fashion they can create is one hell of a Korea version of Lady Gaga or Nicky Minaj. It's goth, colorful, spiky and unusual. That kinda fashion that makes you wonder what's next. Their songs are really not bad, it's the kind of music that American's would bother to listen to and find it pretty interesting. So far, I know they worked with Will.I.Am, Pixie Lott, Florida.. you name it. I rarely see American singers bothering to collab with asian singers. This point aside, they don't mind if their celebs don't look that good as in SM standard-beautiful all and all. Look at 2ne1 CL and Minzi, they have slits for an eye and that didn't make her turn to plastic. I do appreciate the fact that they can make people overlook their faces and focus on the real thing- the music. Fans of SM groups tend to overlook the music for the celebs face. Yes i admit they are really pretty and attractive but the point of music isn't the face of who sang it but the real talent and song.

MOVING ON, JYP entertainment. THIS i like, I'm a huge fan of 2am not because of their abs and looks. It's their voice! Heavenly~~ Ahem, okay. So like SM, JYP does emphasize a bit on looks but it's not they don't at least devote all their time to made their recruit look perfect. As all JYP fans know, he likes talented people. So most of the celebs in JYP are good singers. And one more thing, people who listen to all JYP singer's songs would know how vain their CEO is. JYP stands for Park Jin Young-the founder i guess. He made it a point to put the work JYP into all of the songs, in whispers, while rapping or just saying aloud. It's really unnecessary but of course, when you're CEO of the company, you get to do whatever you want. So i don't care. But do bear in mind, he wrote those songs so he has the right too. JYP has much broader vision, that's to take his group internationally famous. Wonder girls did a good job of that. I do love the songs that they produce. I have all of 2am's albums- to make the point clear. :p  And i thank you JYP really, for recruiting such talented singers like JoKwon, Chang Min and the rest.
But of course, all of the fame comes with sacrifices. I have mentioned already. It IS tiring to be a celeb no matter which agency you join but it really depends on how well you're treated. It isn't worth joining an agency that promises you a great future but abuses you all the way even through your fame. I can see many more of talent agency coming up, one's that I never heard of. It's getting a little too crowded in this industry. All of the youngsters in Korea wants to be a singer or actor. I saw once in an article that the income of these actors and singers are decreasing due to too many budding new recruits. That's why they're competing with each other through faces and publicity. The prettier, the more chances of revenue. So a shout out to the agencies~ PLEASE stop recruiting! i can't even begin to keep track of the names, let alone their faces.

How Not to Get Hired Part 4: Are You Having Fun Yet?

Would you show up for a job interview wearing a bathing suit? Would you tilt way back in your chair and prop you feet on the interviewer's desk? Yes, people have actually done those things. Here are descriptions of other not-too-bright interview behaviors taken from the files of corporate interviews.

• The reason the applicant took so long to answer my question became apparent when he began to snore.
• When I gave the applicant my business card at the beginning of the interview, she immediately crumpled it and tossed it in the waste basket.
• The interview was going well until the applicant told me that he and his friends always wore the clothing my company manufactured.  At that point I told him that we made office products, not clothing.
• She had arranged for a pizza to be delivered to my office during the interview.
• Without asking if I objected, he casually lit a cigar and tossed the match onto the carpet. he did not seem to understand why his behavior annoyed me.
• The applicant was asked to bring a résumé and two references to the interview. She arrived with résumé in hand - and two friends.
• The applicant answered my first few questions then picked up his cell and called his parents to tell them the interview was going well.

 Taken from Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2010).Psychology and Work Today (10th ed.). Boston: Pearson

Young Celebs: Marriage a trend?

So recently i heard about Miley Cyrus's engagement, apparently it's quite a big news- it's on yahoo, magazines, forums..... Which brings me to this question: Why are people getting married so early?
Don't forget Miley is just 19 and there's plenty more of young celebs who are married and engage or pregnant e.g Hilary Duff, Macaulay Culkin, Avril Lavigne, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears etc
My point is here, are these people really ready for marriage? They think it's easy to maintain it and look what happened? except Hilary Duff the rest all got divorced. Sure, it's easy getting into a marriage AND a divorce in Hollywood especially if you're a celeb and you're loaded.
I think because of these people, the word marriage isn't significant anymore. It's no longer the beautiful thing that means spending a lifetime with the one you love. Now it just means, dates-to-functions and sex-partners-legally-till-we-get-sick-of-each-other. They think being 19-24 is considered matured adults and they have what it takes to get married. Wrong! Research has already proven while you're biologically capable and physically able to marry, you're brains are still WAY too young for this kind of responsibility. Young celebs nowadays think it's sorta like a trend to get pregnant and married young. Well, it's one of those stupid trends like planking or impractical high heels. They think that they just gotta have it like the latest CD or designer dress. Even if you dress like a matured woman while walking down the red carpet, you're still intellectually childish for marriage which requires a lot of responsibility. And i don't just mean the celebs, i mean the entire human race.
So i am appalled get it? DISGUSTED when their parents are saying things like they're happy for their kids. It's not encouraging them into a happy life, it's more like sending them straight into the depth of an unhappy marriage. While i understand some pregnant teens who had to get married for the sake of their child, they also need to be ready to take up full responsibility as a mother and wife.
I am sceptical that a union between Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus is a good thing. My opinion, it'll turn out to be just like another Kim Kardashian case and i won't be surprise Miley will turn out to be one of those Real Housewives in the future who will be cursing and having cat-fights with other ladies on national TV. Don't forget this is the same girl that sang "Can't be tamed". If Liam thinks he's capable of taming this girl? be my guest. But i would be there to laugh and say :"I told you so" if it turns out just the way i said. Or maybe he's just jealous his brother is happily married to Elsa Pataky and they have a adorable girl and Liam wants to have it too? Well, it's one thing to be married to Elsa Pataky and entirely another thing to be married to Miley Cyrus. One's already old and matured enough to think rationally and the other is too young to think of the future consequences. When the passion and love is gone. you'll expect a split alright. And for someone like Miley, i'd expect her thrill to run out soon. But hey, whatever floats your boat~~ 
A real genuine question to Liam: Are you sure you wanna do this?

How Not to Get Hired Part 3: Proofread Your Résumé

It pays to proofread your résumé and review your answers on an application blank to correct typographical errors, misspellings, and awkward phrasing. Consider carefully the image your résumé or application presents to a prospective employer. The following items are taken from actual résumés, application forms, and cover letters to employers. Do you think any of these people were hired?
"I received a plague for Salesperson of the Year."
"I'm a rabid typist."
"I have the ability to meet deadlines while maintaining my composer."
"I have excellent eye for derail."
"Please excuse any spelling errors on this résumé since spelling is not my strong suite."
"Objective: To obtain a position that allows me to make use of my commuter skills."
"I have formed a partnership with three business collies."
And to close a cover letter, one job-seeker wrote: "Thank you for your consideration. I hope to hear from you shorty."
To make the best impression, consider a professional résumé writing service such as Pathfinder Writing and Career Services.
From Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2010).Psychology and Work Today (10th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

How Not to get Hired Part 2 : It's your E-Mail Address, Dude

Are you proud of your e-mail address? Do you think it's clever, funny or offbeat? That it reflects who you are and what and what you're about? Well, potential employers might not agree. They are likely to turn down your applicant, not on the basis of your qualifications but because they were turned off by the way you choose to represent yourself to the big wired world.
Steve Watkins reviewed 300 e-mailed résumé in his search for a network administrator. He was appalled by some of the addressees  and compiled examples for his Web site. he changed the domain names to "domain.com, " to protect the innocent. If you recognize your email address in this list, Watkins said, "we have already filled our position- and it wasn't with you, dude."
-IBKreakin@domain.com
-2hot4u@domain.com
-SleazyLiza@domain.com
-Hottie@domain.com
-DrinkMoreBeer@domain.com
-Joe6Pack@domain.com
-Dude@domain.com
-SleepyHead@domain.com


Taken from Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2010).Psychology and Work Today (10th ed.). Boston: Pearson.